Preschool Associate Jobs in Arizona (NOW HIRING)

Location: Willcox Head Start, 501 W Stewart Ave, Willcox, AZ 85643, 1 position

Level: Experienced

Position Type: Full Time, 35 hours/week (mid July through mid May)

Pay Rate: $21.01 - $22.23 per hour

Travel %: In Town

Job Shift: Day (M-F), approximately 7:30am - 2:30pm, may require occasional evening and weekend work due to special events

Job Categories: Education

Classification:  Hourly 

Supervisor:       Lead Teacher

Child-Parent Centers (CPC) is seeking professionals who share our values and principles for building trusting relationships with children, families, and colleagues. Successful candidates welcome individual differences and perspectives, respect cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and are sensitive to current circumstances. Candidates display a commitment to teamwork, open communication, and are eager to work in a fast-paced, high quality preschool environment. This is a great opportunity for organized and dependable early childhood professionals with strong work ethic and a desire to grow. CPC provides opportunities and financial support for teachers to grow professionally including attainment of a bachelor's degree in early childhood education or child development.  If you have previous experience working in an early childhood center and are interested in joining our growing team, we encourage you to apply.

Reporting to the lead teacher, the teacher partners with the classroom team in providing comprehensive high-quality early education and child development services for 17 - 20 preschool-aged children enrolled in the assigned classroom. Daily routines promote children’s cognitive, social, health, and emotional growth for later success in school. The teacher receives regular on-going support from the lead teacher and the education specialist (coach) to implement the agency’s Languages of Learning curriculum that includes creating a safe and enriching environment, embedding responsive and effective teacher-child interactions, and fostering partnerships with families by respecting values, strengths, and cultures and welcoming parent's contributions and participation. The teacher position is funded for seven (7) hours per day Monday through Friday, working directly with children for 4 hours per day four days of the week. When children are not attending class, the teacher participates in activities such as planning lessons, documenting children's work and outcomes, entering and analyzing child and family data, setting goals, and attending professional development opportunities. The teacher serves as the lead teacher when the lead teacher is absent or steps out of the classroom.

Benefits:

• Paid Leave - 24 paid holidays, 5 days paid vacation after one year and up to 10 days each year thereafter, and 5 days paid Personal leave first year, 8 days each year thereafter, up to 5 days Sick paid leave each year.
• Insurance benefits - dental, Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Reimbursement Arrangements, Health Savings Accounts, PPO medical (3 plans), Vision, and Supplemental Life coverage for self, spouse, and child ($25,000 basic life and Accidental death and disability provided by employer) Supplemental coverages (Critical Illness, Hospital Indemnity, and Accident Insurance), and pet insurance.
• Retirement Plan - Agency contribution after years of services and hours eligibility criteria are met. Employee 401k deferral once eligibility is met.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Must be 18 years of age
• Must be able to read, write, and speak English.
• Possess an Associate’s degree from a recognized educational institution in early childhood education or an associate’s degree in a related field (Child and Family Studies, Consumer Studies, Developmental Psychology, Elementary Education, Home Economics/Family and Consumer Sciences, Human Development, Human Ecology, Human Services, Nursing, Psychology, Public Health, Social Work, Sociology, Special Education) with a minimum of 18 credits in early childhood education or child development coursework.
• One (1) years documented work experience with preschool children.
• One (1) year documented experience as a supervisor.
• Submit a current AZ Department of Public Safety Level One Fingerprint Clearance Card prior to start date.
• Possess a valid Arizona driver's license and excellent driving record.
• Able to pass a company paid physical exam prior to starting work.
• Able to pass a DES Centralized Background Check prior to starting work.

Required Competencies:

• Accountability and Dependability
• Safety Focus
• Listening
• Creative and Innovative Thinking
• Building Relationships
• Teamwork
• Self-Management
• Adaptability and Flexibility
• Development and Continual Learning
• Technology

Other Requirements (post hire)

• Must be able to travel to and from various sites as needed. 
• Must be able to travel outside their assigned area in company-owned vehicle.  This travel could begin before daylight hours and continue after sundown in some situations.
• Provide proof of immunizations: MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella), Tdap (adult Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis), and a clear Tuberculosis assessment.
• Ability to maintain a valid level fingerprint clearance card and annual DES Centralized Background Check.
• Must be able to prove the right to work in the USA by providing appropriate documents to complete the Federal I-9 form.
• Must possess or have the ability to possess and keep current certification in First Aid Training/CPR training including Infants and Children.
• Must possess or have the ability to possess and keep current a Food Handler’s Certificate issued by the Arizona health department

Desired Qualifications:

• Possess a Bachelor’s degree from a recognized educational institution in Early Childhood Education or a bachelor’s degree in a related program (Child and Family Studies, Consumer Studies, Developmental Psychology, Elementary Education, Home Economics/Family and Consumer Sciences, Human Development, Human Ecology, Human Services, Nursing, Psychology, Public Health, Social Work, Sociology, Special Education) with a minimum of 18 credits in early childhood education or child development.
• Five (5) years’ work or volunteer experience with groups or individuals from a variety or ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds or with Head Start.
• Able to read, write, speak and understand Spanish.

Work Environment:

• Indoor classroom – temperature controlled
• Outdoor playground – exposure to hot and cold
• Possible exposure to communicable illness, blood borne pathogens
• Exposure to cleaning and sanitizing chemicals

Physical Requirements

Frequently

• Stooping, bending, reaching
• Moving quickly around objects (run, jump, jog)
• Up and down from carpet/floor and/or 12”-14”chairs
• Lift children (3-5 year old children) {30 – 40 lb}

Occasionally

• Picking up and dropping off supplies
• Push and pull furniture {20 to 50lb}
• Lifting +/- 50 lb

Job Specific Duties and Responsibilities:

Direct Services:

• Implement the Languages of Learning curriculum a minimum of 4 hours per day four days per week. Participate and support the completion of at least two parent conferences and two home visits during the program year.
• Participate and support the completion of at least two parent conferences and two home visits during the program year to enhance both teacher and parent understanding of children’s educational and developmental progress.
• Create and maintain a healthy, clean, and safe physical environment following universal precautions, regularly sanitizing equipment, child-proofing environments.
• Develop and implement the child supervision system, child count system, and active supervision implementation plan to ensure all children are supervised at all times.
• Build children’s awareness of and ability to follow basic health and safety rules by providing opportunities for health and safety learning (e.g., implementing and discussing routines—washing hands, fire drills, crossing streets) and by supervising children at all times and positively redirecting them from potentially harmful activities
• Set learning goals and plan learning experiences by integrating knowledge of each child’s temperament, interests, gender, culture, language, learning approaches, understanding, misconceptions, and abilities and by working collaboratively with families and a range of specialists (e.g., medical, dental, speech, nutrition, mental health)
• Promote children’s active exploration, creativity, and development in all domains by designing indoor and outdoor environments based on knowledge of how children develop and learn, and their individual abilities.
• Build children’s pride in their cultures, families, and communities by ensuring that classroom learning centers and materials reflect children’s cultures and communities (e.g., books and print in families’ languages, family photographs, items from their culture)
• Ensure that children are intellectually challenged by selecting, organizing, and using high-quality materials and equipment and by adapting the environment to support each child’s skill acquisition and success.
• Use information about children obtained through home visits, parent-teacher conferences, and other parent-staff interactions by incorporating this data into daily routines and interactions with children.
• Support parents in extending their children’s learning at home by providing newsletters, take-home activities, home visits, and parent-teacher conferences.
• Help children who are learning English by providing them with the supports (e.g., props, gestures, incorporating basic words in the child’s home language, securing volunteers who speak the child’s language) they need to fully participate in classroom experiences.
• Enhance children’s knowledge and language and literacy development by regularly reading books with children individually, in small groups, and in various settings (e.g., block area, housekeeping area).
• Encourage children’s emergent writing skills, their awareness of print, and the varied purposes for writing by providing and using a range of writing materials (e.g., markers, crayons, finger paint, letter magnets) and environmental print (e.g., traffic signs, labels in the classroom, store signs).
• Support children’s interest in and awareness of numbers, counting, and problem solving by initiating counting games and activities and by providing materials that link number concepts to numerals and mathematical understanding and vocabulary.
• Promote children’s understanding of size, shape, color, and directionality by engaging them is small and large-motor activities that require them to sort, match, identify patterns, group objects, and measure objects.
• Build children’s ability to compare and talk about the similarities and differences between objects by providing experiences with sorting, matching, patterns, grouping, and measurement.
• Assist children in understanding math and science concepts by embedding math and science experiences into everyday routines, music, movement, literacy, art, and play.
• Help children expand their knowledge of their bodies and the world around them by planning and implementing in-depth exploration of topics in physical, life, and earth sciences.
• Encourage children’s use of scientific inquiry by offering experiences and opportunities to engage in questioning, predicting, investigating, and collecting and analyzing data.
• Expand children’s knowledge of nature, living things, and materials and processes by providing objects, tools, and experiences that enable them to closely observe and explore nature and scientific concepts (e.g., cause and effect, time, temperature, buoyancy, changes in materials).
• Facilitate children’s ability to listen to, interact with, and appreciate different types of music by providing individual and group experiences with singing, finger plays, creative movement, and musical instruments.
• Develop children’s imagination and creativity by providing child-directed and teacher-guided opportunities for them to express their thoughts, ideas, experiences, and feelings through various media (e.g., movement, dance, drama, music, visual arts).
• Help children learn about themselves and others by designing and implementing meaningful experiences to explore similarities and differences between people.
• Align goals and approaches to support children’s progress by engaging with program staff, specialists, families, and staff in other learning settings who also serve the child.
• Offer families opportunities to increase their child observation skills by providing written and verbal information and encouraging participation in classroom and family education activities.
• Engage families as full partners in their own and their children’s development and learning by helping families develop and reach realistic and achievable long- and short-term goals, engaging them in assessing their needs and strengths, and supporting them in taking actions to reach their goals.
• Strengthen parent-child relationships by helping families recognize the satisfaction and value of engaging with their children and supporting their learning through daily, routine experiences in the home and community.
• Build families’ and children’s self-esteem by drawing on their cultural strengths (e.g., family child bond, extended family, health and nutrition practices) to influence child-rearing skills and to foster positive family interactions.
• Support families in addressing challenges (e.g., mental illness, substance abuse, disabilities, family violence) that affect their well-being, by discussing issues and/or linking them to community.
• Individualize approaches to working with families by drawing on a sound understanding of family development issues and the unique needs of each family. 

Supervision:

• Identify self-growth, development goals, and...