Assistant Teacher

Easterseals Blake Foundation started as the Cerebral Palsy Foundation of Southern Arizona. Since then, we have expanded our services to better serve our community members. We are now one of Arizona's top providers of comprehensive behavioral health services, child welfare, and services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We serve more than 40,000 individuals and families across 10 counties and support more than 3,700 children in Foster Care throughout Southern Arizona. Are you ready to make profound, positive differences in people's lives every day?

We offer our full-time employees the following benefits:

• Medical, Dental and Vision
• Flexible Spending Account and Dependent Flexible Spending Account 
• Health Savings Account
• Voluntary Life insurance
• Voluntary Short-term Disability insurance
• Critical Illness insurance
• Accident insurance
• Employer paid life insurance, long-term disability insurance, and Employee Assistance Program

General Position Description: Assists with the implementing appropriate curriculum in a classroom setting for toddlers and preschool- aged children. Assists in developing partnership relationships with families to meet the needs of the child. Maintains current and timely documentation of work in compliance with Center and other regulatory agencies’ standards.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Assists teacher(s) in maintaining a home-like classroom environment that enhances learning based on the developmental needs of the group and individual needs of the children.
• Assists to carry out curriculum developed by teachers which is reflective of the age and experience of the children. This includes awareness of all areas of development including physical, social, language and cognitive skills.
• Adapts curriculum and interactions to meet the needs, strengths and interests of the individual children in the classroom.
• Implements the Individualized Family Service Plan or Individual Educational Plan for children with special needs. Establishes partnerships with parents and families in order to achieve shared goals for children.
• Fosters interaction and cooperation among children. Encourages children to lead their own small group activities. Facilitates a sense of responsibility of self-regulation in children, intervening only as needed in settling disputes or differences.
• Maintains strict confidentiality concerning children and families. Maintains required documentation and reporting on each individual child.
• Completes annual continuing education requirements.
• Participates in the process of ongoing professional development and meetings. Maintains comprehensive communication among all contacts within the agency, members, and external agencies. Models professional standards and ethics in accordance with EBF Code of Conduct, Strategic Plan, Mission, and Vision.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Requirements: High School/GED or Age specific Child Development Associate Credential (CDA) required. Willingness and ability to pursue degree in Early Childhood Education. Bilingual (Spanish) preferred.

Regulatory

• Must be at least 18 years of age.
• Current, unrestricted AZ driver’s license with no more than two (2) minor moving violations or one (1) accident within the past three (3 years). Three (3) years of driving experience required.
• Must be able to pass a criminal background check.
• Ability to obtain and maintain an AZ DPS Level 1 fingerprint clearance card (employer provides).
• CPR and First Aid certification (Employer provides).
• Initial and current negative TB test result (employer provides).
• Physical exam may be required depending on location or licensing requirements (employer provided).

Skills/Job Knowledge/Abilities: Knowledge of typical and atypical child development. Knowledge of developmentally appropriate and best educational practices supported by research and evaluation. Knowledge of and sensitivity to cultural and linguistic diversity. Knowledge of methods to include children with developmental challenges. Ability to be self-directed at times and at other times to take direction from the Lead teacher in the room. Ability to use principles of reflective practice with children, families, and colleagues. Ability to use technology as a tool for record-keeping, documentation and investigation. Able to establish and maintain a team atmosphere of communication and collaboration for all that reach out to the Department. Must be sensitive to cultural and linguistic diversity. Excellent customer service in stressful situations. Maintains a professional appearance, communications, and actions. Excellent interpersonal communication skills. Possesses basic computer knowledge.

Working Conditions/Physical Requirements (with or without accommodation): Normal childcare and classroom environment with multiple interruptions in person. High activity environment with children and parent interactions. Able to lift up to 50lbs to support children care. Visual acuity to read information from computer screens, forms, and to assess the wellbeing of the children. Able to speak clearly in conversations, general communications and to communicate verbally with children and emergency personnel as needed for daily operations. Hearing ability for communication in persona, phone, and/or other electronic methods. Manual dexterity for typing, writing and to assist children with daily functions. Able to stoop, squat, reach, pull, push, stretch, ascend and descend stairs, stand and sit for long periods of time. May be required to work additional hours or days depending on circumstances.

Additional Information: This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all possible duties, skills, job knowledge, responsibilities, and/or qualifications. EBF reserves the right to revise the job description or to assign other duties to this position. This job description is not intended to create a contract or property right to continued employment between the employee and EBF.

Easterseals Blake Foundation and Aviva are an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative action employer that promotes a work environment of inclusion and diversity. We are committed to provide employment opportunities to all candidates based on their qualifications free of discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation or gender identity), age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, mental or physical disability, or any other characteristic protected by law.

If you have any questions, require assistance or reasonable accommodations while seeking employment, please contact the Human Resource Department at [email protected] or call 520-327-1529.