Preschool Teacher - Head Start

Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency; Salem (OR); On-site; USD 36,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hiring Incentive $1,500

Job summary

Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency is seeking a Preschool Teacher to support growth in social-emotional, cognitive, language and physical development for preschool children. You will collaborate with Teacher Assistants and Classroom Aides and engage families in children's education.

The role emphasizes safety, developmentally appropriate practices and active participation in Head Start activities, trainings and meetings.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED; and
• Associate Teacher: Pre-School Certificate or CDA, and enrollment in an Early Childhood Degree program.
• Teacher I: Associate's Degree in Early Childhood Education or a related degree with a minimum of 18 credit hours of Early Learning coursework.
• Teacher II: Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education or a related degree with a minimum of 18 credit hours of Early Learning coursework.
• Two years of experience in early childhood programs.

Responsibilities

• Promote growth of preschool children in social-emotional, physical, cognitive and language development in partnership with Teacher Assistants and Classroom Aides.
• Involve families in every aspect of their child's education, including facilitating parent involvement.
• Ensure safety in the classroom with active supervision and proper release of children to parents/guardians.
• Record attendance and monitor absences with site team; implement curriculum and individualized plans.
• Conduct developmental and social-emotional screenings and refer as needed.
• Attend Head Start trainings, meetings and contribute to program development.
• Provide regular opportunities for parent participation and monthly parent meetings.

Skills

Empathy

Diplomacy

Communication

Microsoft Office

Videoconferencing

Web tools

Education

High School Diploma or GED

Pre-School Certificate or CDA

Associate's Degree in Early Childhood Education

Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education

Two years of experience in early childhood programs

Job description

OUR MISSION: MWVCAA invests in people and their futures to reduce the impacts of poverty

OUR VISION: All people are respected for their infinite worth, and supported to envision and reach a positive future

Working at MWVCAA means becoming part of a mission-driven community dedicated to equity, dignity, and opportunity for all. We offer competitive pay, a rich company culture that values diversity, and an array of benefits - but we consider the best benefit here to be the reward of helping those in our community live better lives. Come find meaningful work and bring your skills as a Preschool Teacher.Your main responsibilities will be working in partnership with Teacher Assistants and Classroom Aides to promote the growth of preschool children in the areas of social-emotional, physical, cognitive and language development. Involves families in every aspect of their child's education, including facilitating parent involvement.

This team offers a lot of growth opportunities and professional development through hands-on experience and education.

This is a benefitted fulltime position.

*** HIRING INCENTIVE $1,500.00***

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

• High School Diploma or GED; and
• Associate Teacher: Pre-School Certificate or CDA, and enrollment in an Early Childhood Degree program.
• Teacher I: Associate's Degree in Early Childhood Education or a related degree with a minimum of 18 credit hours of Early Learning coursework.
• Teacher II: Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education or a related degree with a minimum of 18 credit hours of Early Learning coursework.
• Two years of experience in early childhood programs.

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS

• Successful registration with the Central Background Registry of the Child Care Division
• Candidate must pass pre-employment physical examination, renewable every two years
• Candidate must pass pre-employment and random drug/alcohol screenings.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Demonstrates tact, diplomacy, and empathy when communicating with clients, staff and community partners.
• Demonstrates proficiencies with Microsoft Office, videoconferencing platforms and web tools

WHAT YOU WILL DO TO SUPPORT THE COMMUNITY

This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. Employee will also perform other reasonably related business duties as assigned by immediate supervisor and other management as required. A full job description is attached.

Classroom

• Ensures safety in the classroom at all times, with active supervision of children, utilizing the transition and counting form and procedure. Ensures children are released only to parent/guardians or authorized adults.
• Records children's daily attendance, working with site team to determine the cause of absences.
• Provides for the development of children's cognitive, physical, social-emotional and language skills through implementation of curriculum, lesson planning and individualization.
• Conducts developmental and social-emotional screenings for each child, with input from parents. Provides follow up to concerns, including the provision of resources, or referrals for children with identified developmental or social-emotional needs.

Office/Paperwork

• Effectively uses ChildPlus and applicable databases to enter or obtain information.
• Completes regular child assessments, using information obtained from child observations. Shares information with program administration and parents.
• Conducts a minimum of two home visits and two education conferences per year.

Staff Development/Meetings

• Attends a variety of classes, workshops, seminars, pre-service training and other Head Start Teacher trainings, and keeps current on developments in early childhood education, and developmentally appropriate practices.
• Attends a variety of meetings including individual reflection meetings, region meetings, site team meetings, debriefing after observations, IFSP meetings, Skill-Building Plan meetings, and other meetings as necessary.

Parent Involvement

• Provides regular opportunities for parent participation by training parents who volunteer in the classroom.
• Participates in planning for and implementing monthly parent meetings.
• Participates in classroom orientations at the beginning of the school year.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

This job has no supervisory responsibilities

PHYSICAL AND MENTAL DEMANDS

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties and responsibilities.

• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and ability to adjust focus.
• Occasionally lift up to 10 pounds.
• Manual dexterity for handling office equipment.
• Able to remain calm during situations where staff or clients may be escalated.
• Able to mitigate stress associated with a busy office and regular deadlines.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

• Mostly indoor classroom environment.
• Frequent indoor and outdoor supervision of children, including high-needs children who exhibit difficult behaviors.
• Frequent outdoor supervision of children and monitoring pick up/drop off.

MWVCAA is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, age, veterans, and people with disabilities or any other protected category. We welcome all people to join us in achieving our Mission. If you require any assistance in the application process, or reasonable accommodations to perform the essential duties of the position, please notify a member of our team at [phone].

If you need ADA accommodations to apply for MWVCAA job openings, please contact Human Resources at [e-mail] or call 503-585-6232.

Child Care Division Central Background Registration and pre-employment drug screening is required.