Teacher

The Teacher upholds a high-quality program in alignment with Growing Place (GP) policies and practices. They actively teach and learn with young children while supervising their activities. Working closely with the teaching team and colleagues, the Teacher supports children in their daily experiences and assists the Lead Teacher in implementing curriculum and classroom objectives. The candidate demonstrates attentiveness, flexibility, reflection, warmth, and the ability to provide and receive constructive feedback. The candidate is proficient in working with children developmentally appropriately, ensuring a safe, joyful, and consistently conducive learning environment.

Primary Teaching and Learning Responsibilities

• Engage, supervise, and support children at all times; ensure their health and safety
• Support daily routines and classroom rhythms throughout the day
• Promote autonomy in assisting children with care routines: toileting, hand washing, etc.
• Prepare, serve, and clean up lunch/snacks, facilitate conversation between children
• Assist with injuries/incidents, report to a Lead Teacher  
• Report parent concerns to a Lead Teacher and/or Director 
• Follow health and safety mandates; specifically maintaing ratios, going off-campus with children, sanitizing and emergency action plans
• Build trusting, respectful, and professional relationships with children and families 
• Use GP’s social constructivist, Reggio-inspired, and RIE approaches 
• Collaborate with others to design, research and implement curriculum 
• Assist in the preparation of the indoor and outdoor learning environments 
• Support Lead Teacher in gathering information pertinent to Parent-Teacher Conferences
• Support enrichment classes, ensuring children are always accompanied by GP staff
• Ensure daily classroom tasks, sucj as opening and closing, are completed
• Participate in school events when requested 
• Communicate directly with others to resolve issues in a promptly and professionally
• Support the school in welcoming new staff and families
• Adhere to center policies and regulatory agencies guidelines
• Use the systems and strategies to document, organize, and make learning visible, i.e., photographs, audio/video, and scanned work, as directed by the Lead Teacher
• Actively participate in meetings 
• Participate in professional development and continuous performance management 

This job description is not meant to state or imply that these are the only duties performed by the employee occupying this position. Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform other job-related duties requested by their supervisor.

Benefits Information: 

• Paid staff synchronized vacation: 4 weeks Paid National/State Holidays: 10 Days
• Hours of Paid Sick Leave (PSL): 72 Hours (9 Days) at start of school year; Mid-year hires accrue PSL at the rate of 1 hour for every 30 hours worked. At the end of each school year, any unused PSL will be rolled over to the next school year as Paid Time Off (PTO), capped at 108 hours.
• Medical, Dental, and Vision Benefits Covered at 100%
• 403(b) retirement plan with a 50% match up to 3% 
• Life Insurance with a fully paid premium and a $25,000 benefit.
• Eligible for Public Loan Forgiveness Program
• Professional Development includes paid coursework at Santa Monica College, six annual full-day professional development days, and opportunities to attend conferences, workshops, and study tours.

• Associate’s Degree with 12 Early ECE units OR
• 1 year experience working with children ages 3 months - 6 years in a licensed childcare program, a NAEYC-accredited child care center preferred
• Meet the requirements of the California Department of Social Services 
• Demonstrate an understanding of child development 
• Demonstrates professionalism in attire, attitude, punctuality, and attendance

Competencies

• Communication and Interpersonal Skills; ability to write and speak about children’s experiences, development, learning, and behavior; accurately convey written and verbal information, have skills to support professional relationships with others
• Organization and Planning; ability to keep classroom organized, materials stocked, complete daily tasks, and stay abreast of critical information (i.e., allergies)
• Classroom Management; ability to lead, transition, and engage children in playful ways that promote learning and consistent with established classroom routines
• Facilitation and Engagement; demonstrate interactions with children that promote social construction of knowledge, social skills, self-regulation and autonomy.
• Assessment and Coaching; gathers evidence to support documentation, children’s developmental goals, and seeks resources to continually improve one’s practice
• Collaboration and Teamwork; works well with others, has a positive team-player spirit, takes initiative as well as direction from others, and shares in achieving classroom goals
• Caring and Inclusiveness; values integrity, helps to sustain a culture of belonging
• Flexibility and Adaptability; willingness to take on additional responsibilities, support other areas of the school as needed for daily operations or long-term successes 

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements

• Standing and sitting in environments designed for children ages 3 months - 6 years
• Requires ability to move rapidly from a sitting to a standing position and able to get down and up off the ground
• Requires the ability to push, pull, or lift 50lbs
• Requires working in all weather conditions
• Requires ability to respond quickly to auditory and visual cues