Early Childhood Teacher/Researcher

The Preschool teacher shall demonstrate commitment to the mission and goals of the Preschool. The Preschool teacher values the process of exploring children’s ideas, questions and opinions and develops a program around this base.

The teacher is responsible for the care and education of a group of children as part of a teaching team and functions as a co-teacher. The teacher plans and implements the program through daily meetings with Preschool staff, and ongoing exchange.

ACCOUNTABILITY

The teacher reports to the Head of School. Parents are invited to give feedback about the program and teachers annually.

QUALIFICATIONS

The teacher must be professionally prepared as a teacher of young children, able to articulate observations and possess a keen interest in exploring how children learn. The teacher must be warm, caring, and able to relate well to other children and adults. The teacher exhibits a fascination with young children and a joy in their play.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Responsibilities will include the following and other activities that support the mission and philosophy of St. John’s Preschool:

           Attends to the safety of children at all times

• Maintains a safe, healthy environment: classroom, studio and playground
• Is familiar with first aid, CPR, and emergency procedures as required by law.

Develops a high-quality program to support the intellectual, social/emotional, spiritual and physical development of each child.

• Promotes the image of the child as capable, strong and joyful
• Regularly observes the ideas and development of each child. Tools of documentation may include note taking, photography, videotaping, and tape recording.
• Uses the results of observations to plan and facilitate with the co-teacher an in-depth, varied program of indoor and outdoor play, and projects
• Plans studio experiences for exposure to many media and encourages continuing expression of same/evolving ideas revisited in new medium
• Maintains stimulating, orderly, developmentally appropriate, attractive classroom and studio environments and attends to them regularly through scheduled peer classroom review
• Establishes clear and appropriate classroom expectations and procedures for dealing with behavioral successes and problems in the classroom
• Encourages sharing of ideas and development of theories at First Meeting
• Encourages children’s reflections and forming connections from the day’s work at Second Meeting
• Provides a plan of small group and large group activities
• Encourages children in a constructivist atmosphere to express their theories and ideas, one on one and through planned and spontaneous small group conversation
• Supports opportunities and activities for the integration of music, dance, movement, instrumentation, clay, wire, drawing, painting, collage, and experiences with light. Considers “The Hundred Languages,” when planning
• Plans and implements experiences that promote language and literacy development and the acquisition of number concepts with connections to the children’s theories and play
• Plans activities that develop positive self-esteem and social skills
• Encourages authentic diverse experiences that support our program and reflect the community and families’ cultures

Establishes positive and interactive relationships with families

• Develops ongoing dialogue with parents and requests their comments and ideas
• Relates observations to parents and offers support for dealing with developmental stages
• Promotes communication with parents through documentation of program, classroom journals, and semi-annual parent conferences
• Facilities families’ contributions to the program and encourages diverse possibilities for parent participation
• Helps organize and attends parent meetings, classroom stories nights, special and school-wide events

Supports the admissions process, both incoming applications and students applying out

• Participates in Play Date Visits for families and prospective students
• Participates with Head of School to complete forms and develop narrative for students making applications out

Maintains a commitment to professionalism

• Treats each child, colleague and parent with dignity and respect, and observes the strictest confidentiality with respect to record keeping and information sharing, in accord with the guidelines of the Preschool’s Policy on Professional Confidentiality
• Is curious and engaged in a process of on-going learning, reads and collaborates regarding professional literature and current thinking in the early childhood field
• Participates in ongoing staff development to improve personal and professional skills
• Participates with co-teacher in daily planning meetings to reflect on the day and forecast future experiences using form chosen by the School, adapted by team
• Attends weekly staff meetings and team meetings
• Collaborates with co-teacher to develop a written schedule of shared responsibilities

Supports the ongoing development of the Early Childhood Educator Series

• Is involved in planning and participates in conferences, workshops, visiting days, afternoon and evening sessions.

POSITION PERAMETERS

Teachers are expected to fulfill responsibilities as determined by the Board and Head of School. Program planning and conduct of daily classroom activities are the general responsibilities of teachers who collaborate in co-teaching teams and with Head of School. Annual staff schedule allows the St. John’s Annual School Calendar. Staff Schedule is a 40-hour week, allowing for classroom activities, daily team planning time and weekly staff meetings. Staff members are also expected to participate in school-wide and classroom events.

Modest class size and student-teacher ratios are essential to our philosophy relative to quality play experiences and small group opportunities for conversations and developing projects. Our ratios are lower than DC Regulations (draft VI, 9/00) and we are committed to this adaptation consistent with our philosophy. All classrooms will have two co-teachers. The Brown Room shall have a maximum of ten children. The Rainey Room shall have a maximum of fifteen children. The Tucker Room shall have a maximum of sixteen children with two teachers, and a maximum of eighteen children with two teachers and extra support staff. The staffing ratio of each class may be adjusted according to its make-up and in consideration of classroom dynamics to provide a quality environment. Such adjustments will be made in consultation with teachers, Educational Program Administrator, Pedagogical Director, Head of School, related specialists and with consideration for reasonable cost.