Preschool Lead Teacher (Picture Rocks)

Current Location: Desert Winds Head Start,12655 W. Rudasill, Tucson, AZ 85743, 1opening, 8 hours per day, M- F, Approximately 7:30am - 3:30pm, July thru mid June Classification: Salary, Non-Exempt Supervisor: Center Manager Supervises: Teacher (1-3), Co-Teacher (1-2) Job Summary: Child-Parent Centers (CPC) is seeking professionals who share our values and principles for building trusting relationships with children, families, and colleagues. Successful candidates welcome individual differences and perspectives, respect cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and are sensitive to current circumstances. Candidates display a commitment to teamwork, open communication, and are eager to work in a fast-paced, high quality preschool environment. This is a great opportunity for organized and dependable early childhood professionals with strong work ethic and a desire to grow. CPC provides opportunities and financial support for lead teachers to grow professionally including continuing education credits in childhood education or child development or through professional memberships in local regional or national early childhood organizations. If you have previous experience working in an early childhood center and are interested in joining our growing team, we encourage you to apply. Reporting to the Center Director, leads the classroom team in providing comprehensive high-quality early education and child development services for enrolled children and families. Daily routines promote childrens cognitive, social, health, and emotional growth for later success in school. The lead teacher serves as the parents primary contact for all services. The lead teacher receives regular on-going support from the site supervisor and the education specialist (coach) to implement the agencys curriculum that includes creating a safe and enriching environment, embedding responsive and effective teacher-child interactions, and fostering partnerships with families by respecting values, strengths, and cultures and welcoming parent's contributions and participation. The lead teacher position is funded for eight hours per day Monday through Friday and leads the classroom team in working directly with children who may be in the classroom up to 6.75 - 10 hours per day, four - five days per week. When working outside the classroom, the lead teacher guides the classroom team activities such as planning lessons, documenting children's work and outcomes, entering and analyzing child and family data, setting goals, and attending professional development opportunities. Benefits: Paid Leave 25paid holidays (time off aligns with most school districts), 5 days paid vacation 10-13days each year thereafter, and 8 days paid Personal leave first year, 8-9days each year thereafter, and up to 5 days paid Sick leave each year. Insurance benefits- dental, Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Reimbursement Arrangements, Health Savings Accounts, PPO medical (3plans), Vision, and Supplemental Life coverage for self, spouse, and child ($25,000 basic life and Accidental death and disability provided byemployer) Retirement Plan- Agency contribution after years of services and hours eligibility criteria are met. Employee 401k deferral after eligibilityis met. Minimum Qualifications: Must be 21 years of age. Possess an associate degree from a recognized educational institution in the field of early childhood educationoran associate degree in arelated field (Child and Family Studies, Consumer Studies, Developmental Psychology, Elementary Education, Home Economics/Family and Consumer Sciences, Human Development, Human Ecology, Human Services, Nursing, Psychology, Public Health, Social Work, Sociology, or Special Education)and a minimum of 24credits in early childhood education or child developmentcoursework. One (1) yeardocumented work experience with infantsand toddlers or six (6) years working with classroom based preschool aged children. Demonstrated proficiency using Office 365 (Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) Possess a valid Arizona driver's license and excellent driving record. Possess a current AZ Department of Public Safety Level One Fingerprint Clearance Card OR obtain prior to the first day of work. Must read, write, and speak English. Other Requirements (post hire): Provide proof of immunizations: COVID 19 vaccination, MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella), Tdap (adult Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis), and a clear Tuberculosisskin test or chest X-ray. Able to pass a company paid physical exam prior to starting work. Able to pass a criminal background check. Must be able to prove the right to work in the USA by providing appropriate documents to complete the Federal I-9 form. Must possess or have the ability to possess and keep current certification in First Aid Training/CPR training including Infants andChildren. Must possess or have the ability to possess and keep current a Food Handlers Certificate issued by the Arizona Department of Health Services Competencies: Leadership Supervision Coaching Accountability and Dependability Valuing Diversity Safety Focus Listening Creative and Innovative Thinking Building Relationships Teamwork Technology Self-Management Adaptability and Flexibility Development and Continual Learning Desired Qualifications: Possess a bachelors or masters degreefrom a recognized educational institution in the field of Early Childhood Education or closely related field (listed above). Two (2) years documented experience as a supervisor. Four (4) years experienceworking in an infant toddler center-basedclassroom. Six (6) years work or volunteer experience with groups or individuals from a variety or ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds or with Head Start. Work Environment: Indoor classroom temperature controlled. Outdoor playground exposure to hot and cold Possible exposure to communicable illness, blood borne pathogens. Exposure to cleaning and sanitizing chemicals Physical Requirements: Frequently Ability to see or hear and respond quickly to unsafe situations. Stooping, bending, reaching. Moving quickly around objects (run, jump, jog) Up and down from carpet/floor and/or 12-14 chairs Lift children (1-5 year old children) {19 30 lbs} Occasionally Picking up and dropping off supplies Push and pull furniture 20lbs to 50lbs Lifting +/- 50 lbs Job Specific Duties and Responsibilities: Direct Services: Implement the curriculum up 6.75 to 10 hours per day four to five days per week (depending on program option). Ensure and support the completion of at least two parent conferences and two home visits during the program year. Set learning goals and plan learning experiences by integrating knowledge of each childs temperament, interests, gender, culture, language, learning approaches, understanding, misconceptions, and abilities and by working collaboratively with families and a range of specialists (e.g., medical, dental, speech, nutrition, mental health). Demonstrate respect for families values, strengths, and cultures by welcoming their contributions and participation, encouraging children to talk about their families, and designing learning experiences accordingly. Use information about children obtained through home visits, parent-teacher conferences, and other parent-staff interactions by incorporating this data into daily routines and interactions with children. Support childrens overall development by integrating sensory learning experiences related to all domains throughout the curriculum, environment, and day. Promote childrens security and attachment by responding promptly and consistently to their needs, providing frequent and affectionate one-on-one contact, and offering predictable daily routines and interactions. Enable children to develop emerging skills and practice existing ones by engaging them in individual and small-group experiences designed to enhance their development and learning. Promote childrens development of fine and gross motor skills by providing a variety of materials (e.g., puzzles, stacking toys, balls, climbing structures), equipment, and opportunities. Foster childrens curiosity, engagement, reasoning, and problem solving by providing a balance of open-ended exploration, teacher-guided inquiry, structured activities, and sensory-based play. Help children acquire meaningful content knowledge by ensuring that learning experiences and routines are child-centered and are based on information that is current, accurate, and focused at the childrens level of understanding. Help children gain independence and autonomy in eating, toileting, dressing, and hygiene by encouragingly presenting age-appropriate and manageable tasks and by recognizing their abilities. Build childrens awareness of and ability to follow basic health and safety rules by providing opportunities for health and safety learning (e.g., implementing and discussing routineswashing hands, fire drills, crossing streets) and by supervising children at all times and positively redirecting them from potentially harmful activities. Support families in extending childrens learning at home by providing newsletters, take-home activities, home visits, and parent-teacher conferences. Help children who are learning English by providing them with the supports (e.g., props, gestures, incorporating basic words in the childs home language, securing volunteers who speak the childs language) they need to fully participate in classroom experiences. Help children expand their emergent language and literacy skills by cuing in and responding to childrens non-verbal forms of communication (e.g., gestures, sounds). Foster teacher-child and child-child communication intentionally by facilitating mutual sharing and authentic exchange of ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Advance childrens listening, understanding, and communicating skills and supports development of content knowledge by commenting on childrens activities and experiences and describing childrens actions and events. Build childrens vocabulary by regularly introducing new and challenging words, discussing them, and infusing them into ongoing activities. Cultivate childrens understanding of and appreciation for books by gathering a wide range of high-quality childrens literature, including board books, for children to explore on their own or with a teacher. Enhance childrens knowledge and language and literacy development by regularly reading books with children individually, in small groups, and in various settings (e.g., block area, housekeeping area). Further childrens listening, vocabulary, and attention span through book reading by using prompts for discussion and follow-up activities. Encourage childrens scribbling and other emergent writing skills, their awareness of print, and the varied purposes for writing by providing and using a range of writing materials (e.g., markers, crayons, finger paint, letter magnets) and environmental print. Support childrens interest in and awareness of numbers, counting, and problem solving by initiating counting games and activities and by providing materials that link number concepts to numerals and mathematical understanding and vocabulary. Promote childrens understanding of size, shape, color, and directionality by engaging them is small- and large-motor activities that require them to sort, match, identify patterns, group objects, and measure objects. Build childrens ability to compare and talk about the similarities and differences between objects by providing experiences with sorting, matching, patterns, grouping, and measurement. Assist children in understanding math and science concepts by embedding math and science experiences into everyday routines, music, movement, literacy, art, and play. Help children expand their knowledge of their bodies and the world around them by planning and implementing age-appropriate activities and explorations. Encourage childrens use of scientific inquiry by offering experiences and opportunities to explore and investigate their immediate environment. Expand childrens knowledge of nature, living things, and materials and processes by providing objects, tools, and experiences that enable them to closely observe and explore nature and scientific concepts (e.g., cause and effect, time, temperature, buoyancy, changes in materials). Facilitate childrens ability to listen to, interact with, and appreciate different types of music by providing individual and group experiences with singing, finger plays, creative movement, and musical instruments. Develop childrens imagination and creativity by providing child-directed and teacher-guided opportunities for them to express their thoughts, ideas, experiences, and feelings through various media (e.g., movement, dance, drama, music, visual arts). Help children learn about themselves and others by designing and implementing meaningful experiences to explore similarities and differences between people. Facilitate childrens learning about their community by using play, language and literacy experiences (e.g., conversations, books, writing), and face-to-face interactions (e.g., field trips) that reflect childrens familial and cultural backgrounds and illustrate the roles and interconnectedness of community members. Build childrens understanding of their own and other cultures by providing opportunities for them to learn about the culture and traditions, linguistic diversity, and family structures of the children and families within their classroom and the greater community. Foster childrens social and emotional development by providing warmth, sensitivity, nurturance, acceptance, and safety and by encouraging them to express and understand their feelings and emotions. Promote childrens development of age-appropriate, self-regulated behaviors by using routines, schedules, and classroom design. Support childrens decision making and autonomy by encouraging them to initiate activities of their own choice and by modeling conflicts independently and by modeling ways to share, help, and cooperate with others. Encourage children to work collaboratively by fostering group learning, joint problem solving, and reasoning opportunities through teacher-initiated activities and play. Promote childrens active exploration, creativity, and development in all domains by designing indoor and outdoor environments based on knowledge of how children develop and learn, and their individual abilities. Ensure that children are intellectually challenged by selecting, organizing, and using high-quality materials and equipment and by adapting the environment to support each childs skill acquisition and success. Maintain a healthy physical environment by following health and safety procedures (e.g., following universal precautions, regularly sanitizing equipment, child-proofing environments) Support the goals of the curriculum by planning and establishing distinct and child-accessible learning centers and changing materials intentionally. Extend the learning environment beyond the classroom by accessing the community (e.g., fire station, library, construction site) Build childrens pride in their cultures, families, and communities by ensuring that classroom learning centers and materials reflect childrens cultures and communities (e.g., books and print in families languages, family photographs, items from their culture) Supervision: Supervise assigned staff by providing direction, input, and feedback using tools and resources provided in the agencys performance planning, supervision and evaluation system. Provide a minimum of one supported supervision meeting per month to assigned staff. Use reflective practice supervision and coaching strategies with consistency and equity to create a learning environment that supports development while maintaining accountability for performance. Support and monitor assigned staff in professional achievement or personal growth through the professional development system including attainment of required certifications or education. Identify self-growth, development goals, and strategies for achievement with support and input from supervisor. Commit and participate in consistent and planned meetings with supervisor to further professional growth by seeking feedback, reflecting on and assessing own practice, and taking advantage of opportunities to improve skills and knowledge. Record Keeping, Monitoring and Reporting: Monitor child observation, screening, and assessment data to plan individualized experiences and small and large group activities. Meet federal, state, and program documentation requirements by maintaining accurate, objective, complete, timely, and well-organized child and family records. through entry into child information systems (my teaching strategies and/or Child Plus). Monitor childrens progress per the goals developed by self and other staff and specialists, including those in IFSPs, by observing and documenting childrens play, conversations, routines/schedules, and work samples and through conversations with families. Meet federal, state, and program documentation requirements by maintaining accurate, objective, complete, timely, and well-organized child and family records. Responsible for reporting (including self-reporting) any unsupervised child incidents to the supervisor and to those with a need to know. Leadership, Management, and Teamwork: Participate in center staff meetings and the planning of center activities. Identify emerging needs, initiate requests for additional assistance, and participate in on-going improvements to program policies and procedures. Participate on transdisciplinary team within the agency to meet family needs and to build the parent/child/teaching staff relationship. Facilitate transitions to or from Early Head Start, Head Start, home, and/or other early education and care settings by engaging families, others in the program, and members of the community in planning. Maintains professional boundaries in relationships with staff and families by distinguishing between others needs and ones own, guarding against abuse of power and sexual misconduct, and using appropriate language. Ensures family confidentiality by limiting conversations about families and access to their records to those directly involved in providing services. Stay abreast in early childhood education through professional development including participation in Tucson Children's Project forums, SAzEYC events, Office of Head Start webinars, North American Reggio Alliance events, CPC professional development, or other conferences and events. Establish and maintain external professional relationships by participating as a member of community, state, and/or national professional organizations. Link current research on and best practice in education, family, health and/or disabilities services to own work by keeping abreast of new information and reflecting on its relevance. Participate in securing, training, and supervising classroom volunteers. Participate in recruitment and enrollment of eligible children families. Responsibilities for all Child-Parent Centers, Inc.: Understand and model the agency's vision, mission, and philosophy within the agency and the community. Demonstrate approachability, ownership, accountability, and life-long learning. Use the agency's communication and problem-solving approach. Seek perspective of others. Identify emerging issues and contribute new knowledge. Work to de-escalate when emotions and stakes are high. Maintain professional behavior and relationships with internal and external stakeholders. Use agency systems and technologies to accomplish work. Maintain a high level of attendance to support ongoing service delivery. Recognizes children's safety as the first responsibility of all staff and acts swiftly to ensure no child is unsupervised. Implement agency policies and procedures for safeguarding confidential or sensitive information about employees and/or program participants. Restrict access to paper or electronic documents to those with a need to know. Performs other duties as assigned. Please Note: This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice. This job opening is intended to provide information about the position for employee recruitment purposes only and is not intended to be the basis of any employee contract. Child-Parent Centers, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. In-house and public recruitment