Preschool Teacher - Head Start

mwvcaa; Salem (OR); On-site; USD 38,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401k with matching

Employee Assistance Program

Life insurance

Health, Vision and Dental Insurance

AFLAC coverage

Pet insurance

Job summary

MWVCAA is hiring a Preschool Teacher to partner with Teacher Assistants and Classroom Aides in promoting growth across social-emotional, physical, cognitive and language domains for preschoolers. The role emphasizes engaging families and upholding a welcoming, equity-focused classroom culture.

The position supports a mission-driven community, offers robust benefits and professional development opportunities, and includes an incentive program.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED and required credentials.
• 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 related degree with 18 credit hours in Early Learning.
• Teacher II: Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education or related degree with 18 credit hours in Early Learning.
• Two years of experience in early childhood programs.
• Must pass Central Background Registry check and pre-employment screenings.
• Demonstrates tact, diplomacy, and empathy when communicating with clients and colleagues.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office, videoconferencing platforms and web tools.

Responsibilities

• Promote growth of preschool children in social-emotional, physical, cognitive and language areas.
• Involve families in all aspects of education and parent involvement.
• Ensure classroom safety with active supervision and proper release protocols.
• Record attendance and support assessment and screenings.
• Implement curriculum and individualized lesson plans.
• Conduct developmental and social-emotional screenings with parental input.
• Complete home visits and education conferences as required.
• Participate in staff development, meetings, and ongoing training.
• Encourage parent participation and orientation at school year start.
• Assist with administrative tasks using ChildPlus and related databases.

Skills

Empathy in communication

Microsoft Office proficiency

Videoconferencing tools

Web tools proficiency

Education

High School Diploma or GED

Associate Teacher: Pre-School Certificate or CDA

Teacher I: 18 credit hours in Early Learning

Teacher II: 18 credit hours in Early Learning + Bachelor's

Two years of experience in early childhood programs

Successful registration with Central Background Registry

Pre-employment physical and drug screenings

Empathy and tact in communication

Proficiency with Microsoft Office, videoconferencing and web tools

Tools

ChildPlus

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.

• 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.

• 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.

WHAT WE WILL DO TO SUPPORT YOU

• 401k with matching after 1 year
• Employee Assistance Program
• Life insurance
• Health, Vision and Dental Insurance
• AFLAC coverage
• Pet insurance through Metlife
• For some positions, employees may be eligible for company‑sponsored continuing education

**This is a partial list of essential duties and responsibilities. To review the full job description, download below.

Note that compensation for each role at MWVCAA is based off a number of factors such as experience and education.

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 to ask for a HR Team Member.

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