Preschool teacher

About Us :

Northeast Michigan Community Service Agency, Inc. (NEMCSA) is a private, nonprofit Community Action Agency, whose Mission is to provide quality programs and services to strengthen and enhance the self-sufficiency of individuals, families and communities through the best use of human and financial resources, focusing on those who are experiencing an economic hardship.

What You’ll Do :

This Teacher creates, maintains and manages a safe, warm, and challenging learning environment for young children incorporating developmentally appropriate learning activities which meet the needs of all children.

Implements the program curriculum to fidelity and achieves progress toward established school readiness goals. Responsible for management of the local program site;

hiring, training and supervision / support of classroom and auxiliary staff; record keeping; on-going development of individually tailored programs for children, and participation in a plan for continuous professional development.

Safety of children is always the top priority for this position.

Child Growth and Development

• Manage the delivery of a quality program to provide a positive healthy and safe learning environment to meet the educational and developmental needs of young children by focusing on learning styles and temperament;
• Support and enhance children’s growth and development through observation and high quality teaching practices;
• Use the CSEFEL framework to guide program practices to meet the needs of all children enrolled in the program;
• As needed, ensure Positive Behavior Support Plans and Special Services Goals & Transition Plans are implemented to fidelity for children who need additional support to be successful in the classroom.
• Learning Environment and Curriculum ;
• establish a learning environment that supports positive growth and development;
• Develop lesson plans allowing input from program team and parents;

Child Observation, Record-Keeping, and Assessment

• Monitor completion and timely submission of all required records and forms. Ensure file order is maintained;
• Maintain all required child and administrative records and prepare necessary reports, files or submit as directed;
• Demonstrate ability to collect and utilize data gained from on-going observation and assessment of all children and My Teaching Strategies reports to plan and implement large group, skill building and individualization activities;
• Document case notes and other data in ChildPlus as needed.

Child Health, Safety, and Nutrition

• Promote an awareness and development of healthy lifestyles in children and families through physical activity, healthy food choices and positive eating habits;
• Responsible for the management / maintenance of the program site as directed to provide a safe, clean and healthy effective learning / working environment for children, parents and staff (including playground and parking area).

Family and Community Relationships

• Assist parents in planning and implementing home activities appropriate for the individual child’s specific developmental needs as reflecting in My Teaching Strategies reports;
• Work in cooperation with parents and other program staff to meet all program requirements;
• Prepare and implement at least two (2) home visits and two (2) parent / teacher conferences for each family;
• Support and encourage parents through attendance at parent meetings, conferences / home visits, as volunteers in the classroom, and participation in program activities.
• Include parent participation in the planning of program experiences and center lesson plans that integrate the child’s level of ability and interests;

Leadership

• Serve as immediate supervisor of the teaching assistant(s) and classroom support personnel (including classroom aide, bus aide, bus driver, janitorial staff and volunteers) providing supervision, support, open communication, direction and training as needed;
• Assist in the selection of additional personnel in the program as needed (and approved) to include assistants, bus drivers, and service aides.
• Ensure, completion of HR / licensing requirements;
• Provide training and on-going supervision for staff and volunteers;
• Maintain confidentiality and code of ethics at all times;
• Assure parent / community participation in an effort to obtain and document in-kind to reach non-federal share target;
• Attend all local and area staff meetings / trainings, orientation, pre-service, in-service, and other required training arranged for staff;
• Pursue goals through an individually designed professional development plan;
• Participate in Practice Based Coaching, working with the Instructional Coach, to ensure continued program quality;
• Assist staff in meeting the goals on their professional development plan; support assistant in planning and implementing of at least four (4) days of programming per month;
• ensure all staff complete training hours for child daycare licensing and HS / GSRP requirements;
• Facilitate transitions to or from Head Start / GSRP by engaging families, program staff (including EHS, HS Home Base), and members of the community / local education agencies in planning and implementing strategies that ensure successful transitions, including the transfer of child records;
• Attend IEP / PBS planning meetings as needed;

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed are representative of the knowledge, skill and / or ability required.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Who You’ll Supervise :

Management of (2) or more employees with authority for hiring, firing, promotion, and disciplining and responsible for using independent judgment on matters of significance to the department.

Supervises teaching assistant(s), classroom aide(s), bus driver(s), bus aide(s), janitorial staff and classroom volunteer(s).

What We’ll Love About You :

• Bachelor’s Degree with a valid Michigan Teaching certificate and a ZA endorsement or
• Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood General and Special Education ZS endorsement or
• Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development / Early Childhood Education (major) with specialization in preschool teaching is required.
• Two years’ experience in Head Start or other Early Childhood Program is preferred.

Last updated : 2024-03-02