Lead Preschool Teacher

Clackamas Education Service District; Portland (OR); On-site; USD 56,000 - 74,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

PERS retirement

Paid time off

Professional development

Job summary

Clackamas Education Service District seeks a Preschool Lead Teacher for its Head Start program in Oregon. You will promote social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development through developmentally appropriate instruction and individualized goals within a community-based setting.

The role requires an associate degree in early childhood education or related field (or Step 9 proof in Oregon) and experience in preschool instruction.

Qualifications

• Associate's degree in child development, early childhood education, or similar field, or a Step 9 on the Oregon Registry.
• CDA or Step 8 accepted with plan to earn degree within one year/two years depending on attainment.

Responsibilities

• Utilizes integrated curriculum plans reflecting developmentally appropriate practice and cultural influences.
• Maintains a consistent schedule with group experiences, music, movement, and transitions.
• Encourages exploration, problem solving, and cooperation; asks open-ended questions.
• Prepares classroom materials and learning centers to support lesson plans.
• Promotes family involvement and conducts parent conferences about progress and strategies.
• Plans a safe learning environment with supervision and monitoring.
• Adapts curriculum to address individual goals and needs identified in learning plans.
• Documents baselines and ongoing assessments using state tools.

Skills

Curriculum development

Classroom management

Parental communication

Assessment literacy

Time management

Team coordination

Education

Associate degree in ECE

ORO Step 9

Job description

Find your "why" with Clackamas ESD

Clackamas ESD strives to infuse equity in all our programs and bodies of work by maintaining an inclusive, barrier-free environment in which everyone participates and fully benefits.

Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they meet every one of the qualifications as described in the job description. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job, and that candidate may be the one who comes from a less traditional background. We would encourage you to apply, even if you don't believe you meet every one of our qualifications described. If you are unsure whether you meet the qualifications of this position, or how this would be determined, please feel free to contact Human Resources at [e-mail] to discuss your application.

About the program

Head Start is built upon the understanding that child and family development takes place in a community and effective programs build upon and link families with community resources. For this reason, Head Start to Success is designed to link with schools, social service agencies, health services and childcare services. In this way, Head Start to Success achieves the Head Start mission of supporting families in preparing their children for kindergarten success. Enrolled children receive a quality preschool experience in their own community and the family is supported through home visits and offered comprehensive education, nutrition, health and social services. The program's funding comes from the state of Oregon and follows all of the Federal Head Start guidelines and standards.

About this position

The Preschool Lead Teacher provides a successful, safe, and supervised learning environment for children in the school district preschool setting. The Lead Teacher promotes the social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development of enrolled children through age-appropriate instruction, progress monitoring/assessment of each child, development of individualized goals, and curriculum development. Family involvement is encouraged in all aspects of the program. The Lead Teacher works to ensure that program requirements are consistently met. The Lead Teacher ensures that services are coordinated and address each child's individual learning strengths and needs.

Essential functions

• Utilizes integrated curriculum plans, which reflect developmentally appropriate practice, parental and cultural influences, and promote the social, emotional, physical and cognitive development of enrolled children
• Follows a consistent schedule, which includes small and large group experiences, choice time, music and movement, large and small motor activities, skill development, snacks, and effective transitions between activities
• Encourages experimentation, exploration, problem solving, cooperation, socialization, and choice-making; asks open-ended questions and listens respectfully to the answers
• Prepares classroom materials to support developmentally appropriate lesson plans; creates and changes learning centers as needed
• Promotes family involvement by providing an atmosphere that promotes and reinforces parental participation in the classroom and parent meetings
• Communicates regularly with parents, regarding each child's progress
• Conducts parent conferences and parent meetings for the purpose of assessment and support, and to share information on classroom progress and educational strategies at school and at home
• Plans and provides a safe learning environment in which children are supervised and monitored at all times
• Adapts curriculum to address and meet individual goals for children as identified in their individual learning plans with the support of program staff
• Assesses individual and group needs, attending to special needs, specific interests, strengths and concerns with the support of program staff
• Documents baselines and ongoing assessments using the state selected assessment tool
• Associate's degree in child development, early childhood education, or similar field, or a Step 9 on the Oregon Registry. CDA or Step 8 can be accepted with a plan to earn an associate's degree or Step 9 within one year. Candidates with a CDA and a Step 7 on the ORO registry may also be considered, provided they are able to obtain an associate's degree or a Step 9 within two years of employment.
• Recent successful experience providing instruction to preschool children
• Ability to apply current research and best practice within the field of Early Childhood Education to service delivery
• Demonstrated ability to work cooperatively with families, program staff, the district, Clackamas ESD and community resource personnel
• Ability to manage time, prioritize, and schedule multiple activities across settings, and to coordinate these activities with others
• Ability to design, develop, and adapt materials and routines which support learning and encourage autonomy in children
• Ability to obtain a Central Background Registry number.
• Ability to acquire and maintain a valid first aid and infant/child CPR card
• Ability to train, manage, and provide support to adults whose roles and responsibilities vary depending on the early childhood setting, including assigned education assistants
• Demonstrated skills in communication, collaboration, and cooperation with other disciplines, community based professional teams, and families as resources for planning and delivery of Early Childhood Education services
• Ability to compose and produce concise professional documents
• Ability to acquire computer skills for word processing, use of database, and production of instructional materials
• Physical and mental attributes sufficient to perform the essential functions
• Written and oral communication skills sufficient to perform essential functions

Preferred qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in child development, early childhood education, or a related field.
• Bilingual: English and Spanish preferred. Bilingual candidates must pass a language proficiency assessment at an intermediate high to advanced level per CESD guidelines to be eligible for bilingual salary placement.

Salary

Range 17- 21 of the classified salary schedule. New hires are eligible to start at up to Step 4 depending on experience, per the Classified Collective Bargaining Agreement. $26.93 - $35.61 per hour. Bilingual candidates for eligible languages (Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Mandarin, ASL) will be paid an additional 1 pay range step.

For associate's degree or ORO Step 9:

For Bachelor's degree (or higher) or ORO Step 10:

• Full medical, dental, and vision insurance with generous district-paid contribution (most employees pay $0 out of pocket to maintain health insurance coverage)
• Retirement through the Oregon Public Retirement System (PERS) includes pension and individual account program
• Paid time off, including paid holidays, sick leave, and other personal leave
• Opportunities to grow with us with generous professional development expense reimbursements
• Clackamas ESD covers the full cost of fingerprinting for new employees, saving you $82.50 - a benefit not offered by most other districts
• Read more about our benefits here

Clackamas ESD employees working 600 or more hours in a calendar year are eligible for the Oregon Public Employee Retirement, or PERS. There are two components to PERS, including the pension, which is primarily funded by CESD and The Individual Account Program, or IAP, which is funded by a six-percent deduction from your paycheck. If you are new to PERS, your PERS deduction will begin automatically after a six-month waiting period.

Clackamas ESD Notice of Nondiscrimination

Clackamas Education Service District is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We respect and seek to empower each individual and support the diverse cultures, perspectives, skills and experiences within our workforce along with the students and families that we serve.

Clackamas ESD policy provides veterans and disabled veterans with preference as required by law.