Infant/Toddler Co-Teachers

Alta Head Start is currently seeking Infant/Toddler Co-Teachers for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year.  Alta provides excellent opportunities for teachers to expand their knowledge and skillsets in the early childhood education field through extensive professional development opportunities and on the job mentoring and training.  We also provide an environment where educators are free to be creative and express their passion for educating children within their classroom setting.  In addition, we offer competitive pay and an excellent employee benefit package including paid time off, paid holidays, medical/dental/vision and other health related benefits, 401k retirement plan with employer contribution, paid life insurance and tuition assistance.

Benefit Information:

• Automatic pay increase after 1-year and 5-year anniversaries. Automatic 5% pay increase every 5 years after that.
• Annual Cost of Living pay increase as authorized by the Office of Head Start.
• Generous paid leave time including vacation, sick, and personal time.
• Paid Holidays (11 per calendar year).
• Non-profit loan forgiveness (for eligible applicants).
• High quality and affordable healthcare plan including Health, Dental, and Vision insurance, a company paid life insurance benefit, and additional voluntary life, short-term disability, critical illness, and accident plans.
• Flexible Spending Account and Dependent Care Account available.
• 401k retirement plan with employer contribution (employee contribution optional through payroll deduction).
• Career and skill development through extensive professional development opportunities.
• Support for employees advancing their education through the T.E.A.C.H scholarship.

JOB SUMMARY: 

This position serves as the lead educator in a classroom of Early Head Start children by planning, implementing, and overseeing all classroom activities. This position works with typically developing children as well as children with disabilities, serves as a social service referral person and also shares in the responsibility of parent involvement in the program. This position may be reassigned to various classroom/centers as deemed necessary for program operations.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

1.      Attends a minimum of 20 hours of required trainings and/or workshops for Step up to Quality.

2.      Remains up to date on Head Start performance standards and child care licensing regulations.

3.      Responsible for the weekly preparation of daily lesson plans, which includes objectives to be posted for parents, volunteers and visitors in the classroom.

4.      Develops an individual plan for each child to include goal setting based on identified needs and prescriptions for objectives and activities to meet established goals and outcomes.

5.      Schedules and attends home visits and parent-teacher conferences with families as required and on an as-needed basis and documents these events.

6.      Prepares and maintains a safe, healthy learning environment for children that is positive, developmentally appropriate and experientially based.

7.      Makes necessary referrals for any special needs problems or issues to appropriate staff.

8.      Ensures lesson plans cover all Early Head Start Standard domains and are individualized.

9.      Implements education lesson plans and daily programs for children in accordance with each child’s needs based on classroom observation and recording children’s interests and levels of functioning.

10.  Supports children’s social and emotional development and provides positive guidance and discipline.

11.  Shares pertinent information with family advocates ensuring coordinated services.

12.  Provides a stable classroom routine and environment ensuring a well-run purposeful program responsive to children’s needs.

13.  Screens, observes, and documents children as required.

14.  Submits monthly progress reports to supervisor.

15.  Assists with collection and edit process of correct Child and Adult Care Food program (CACFP).

16.  Generates and tracks in-kind and other allowable costs applied to the non-federal share requirement and submits to appropriate staff in a timely manner.

17.  Must maintain accurate meal counts and attendance and submit in a timely manner.

18.  Meet the needs of Early Head Start children including changing diapers.

19.  Utilizes and demonstrates a working knowledge of best practice approaches in Early Childhood Education and Social and Emotional behavioral development.

20.  Uses appropriate interventions such as puppetry, social stories, and other tools to encourage social and emotional development.

QUALIFICATIONS:

·        Must be able to lift fifty (50) pounds.

·        Must be able to pass BCI/FBI background check in accordance with ODJFS Licensing regulations.

·        Must be able to pass a medical exam in accordance with ODJFS licensing Regulations.

·        Must be able to provide documentation of being free from communicable tuberculosis in accordance with Head Start Standards.

·        Must be able to meet qualifications as required for Step Up To Quality (SUTQ).

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE:

Minimum of a Child Development Associate (CDA) required, Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education or a related field with coursework equivalent to an Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education preferred. A minimum of two years’ experience in a classroom setting required.