Early ECEAP Toddler Teacher

Title: Early ECEAP Toddler Teacher - 2.5- to 3-year-olds

Dept.: Childhood Services (ELC)

Reports to: Early Learning Program Supervisor

Wage: $27.00 to $30.39 per hour*

Type: Full-Time/40 hours per week, Non-Exempt

Location: 1900 Rainier Ave S, Seattle; on-site (WA residency required)

To Apply:

Go to: https://wellspringfs.org/about/careers and click on “Career Center”.

Who We Are:

Our Vision: A community in which every child has a safe and stable home.

Our Purpose: To prevent and address homelessness by connecting families and individuals in crisis to the support and resources they need to regain stability.

For over 130 years, Wellspring Family Services has worked to end family homelessness by making it easy for families and employees in crisis to access the services they need to regain stability. A non-profit, multi-service agency, Wellspring serves children, youth, and families primarily in King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties.

Wellspring has four primary programs. The Housing Services division provides eviction prevention and rehousing services to vulnerable populations in three counties. The Early Learning Center delivers trauma-informed early childhood education to children, ages 1 to 5, who have experienced homelessness. The Family Store supplies clothing, toiletries, toys, diapers, and baby equipment to low-income families so they can better afford rent and other basic needs. Our Employee Assistance Program connects employees with the resources they need to address crises, retain housing, and remain employed.

Wellspring Family Services is committed to a diverse and accessible workplace. Everyone is welcome. We strongly encourage applicants from under-represented communities, including BIPOC, non-conforming gender identities & sexual orientation, people with lived experience of homelessness, veterans, immigrants, and people with disabilities.

All applications are reviewed by a real person. To request disability accommodation in the application process, please contact hr@wellspringfs[dot]org.

Purpose:

The Lead Teacher delivers specialized early learning services for children through a trauma-informed care approach and provides parent support and advocacy to strengthen and support children and families experiencing challenges in their lives.

Essential Functions:

• Curriculum Implementation: Plans developmentally appropriate curriculum that is responsive to individual children that fosters their emotional, physical, cognitive, language, and social development. Prepares materials needed daily for the curriculum. Schedules field trips as necessary to support the curriculum.
• Classroom Management: Sets standards of conduct and organization for the classroom. Directs, coaches and mentors Assistant Teacher in classroom management and preparation. Conducts teacher team meetings and guides volunteers. Uses time effectively to complete tasks. Organizes and sets up classroom environment. Monitors condition of classroom and playground materials. Ensures that children are always supervised.
• Parental Support: Maintains open lines of communication with parents. Develops and implements parent/child events. Respects cultural differences in child rearing practices. Recognizes individual needs of parents and works cooperatively with parents to try to meet those needs. Consults with parents regarding issues related to health, development, safety, nutrition, and education in collaboration with ELC team. Plans and conducts parent-teacher conferences.
• Effective Discipline and Guidance: Provides and explains consistent and clear rules to children, redirects inappropriate behavior through positive reinforcement, helps children to deal with anger and frustration, conducts smooth transitions, sets realistic limits, and plans to prevent behavioral issues. Uses Trauma-informed Care approach to guide children’s behaviors.
• Administrative: Conducts child assessments, written observations of children and determines progress of each child. Prepares monthly classroom newsletters, notes and other written documents to parents as needed. Submits required documents to supervisor in a timely manner.
• Child Health Care Needs: Observes children for indication of neglect, abuse, illness, or developmental delays and collaborates with ELC team during case consultations to develop a plan to meet children’s needs. Actively supports nutritional needs of children during mealtimes.
• Collaboration: Works effectively with supervisor and other team members to deliver the best possible education and care to the children. Willingly shares ideas and opinions and encourages other team members to do the same. Listens and communicates with others in a respectful way, avoiding listening blocks and contaminated messages. Does not allow conflict with another team member to interfere with the responsibility to the children, meeting the needs of the children first and dealing with the conflict separately and in private as soon as feasible.

Additional Responsibilities:

• Compliance: Adheres to licensing requirements as well as agency and program policies. Displays consistency and reliability with attendance.
• ELC Representation: Welcomes and assists children, visitors, and staff in a helpful and professional manner. Always act in a manner consistent with Wellspring’s values.
• Professional Development: Demonstrates a commitment to continuous learning by seeking out professional development and ongoing training opportunities. Demonstrates a commitment to self-reflection and the ongoing development of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Works closely with Early Childhood Mental Health Clinical Supervisor and Early Learning Program Supervisor to build one’s reflective capacity.
• Advocacy: Advocates for children to receive additional services related to behavioral or developmental concerns.
• Additional tasks and projects may be assigned as needed.

Minimum Requirements:

Candidates must meet all the following qualifications to be considered for this position:

• Two or more years of experience working as a lead teacher, with at least 3 years of experience working in a licensed early learning center with children ages 1 to 5.
• 20 Early Childhood Education (ECE) credits, MERIT verified. Please note that successful candidates who only meet the minimum education requirement will be put on an education plan and must receive either A.A. in ECE or AA in any field with 30 ECE credits MERIT verified within 3 years from hire date.
• Experience working with diverse staff, clients, and vulnerable populations (e.g., children who have experienced trauma, homelessness, or other significant adversity). Experience with anti-bias teaching practices.
• TB test results, proof of MMR vaccine, successful completion of WA State/DCYF Background Check in MERIT.
• Current or able to obtain within 30 days of hire: Food Handler’s Card, First Aid Certification, Infant/Child CPR Certification, AIDS/HIV Training, Bloodborne Pathogens Training.
• Highly developed awareness of diversity, equity, and inclusion, with evolved ability to practice appropriate, relevant, and thoughtful strategies for working with diverse populations.

Preferred Qualifications:

The following qualifications have been identified as particularly beneficial and candidates who have attained them will be preferred in the hiring process. The successful candidate who meets either qualification will be eligible for a starting pay rate premium:

• A.A. in Early Childhood Education (ECE) or AA in any field with 30 ECE credits MERIT verified.
• B.A. in ECE or B.A. related to ECE with 30 ECE credits MERIT verified.

* Wellspring does not engage in pay negotiation as this practice contributes to pay inequity. Wage rates for the successful candidate are calculated by Wellspring. Premiums may be applied for candidates that are able to verify their achievement of preferred qualifications.

Physical and Mental Requirements:

• Washington State resident at start date
• This position requires regular and predictable attendance.
• This position involves occasionally ascending/descending a ladder or stepstool to hang classroom materials or access supplies.

• This position requires focused mental activity over a significant portion of the workday.
• This position involves contact with children who are ill and/or contagious and the person in this position must take precautions to ensure the health and safety of all children, parents, and staff, as well as him/herself/themselves.
• This position involves manual dexterity and motor coordination to serve food and handle dishes/trays with agility and speed. Serving may involve repetitive wrist motion.

• This position requires a person who can reason and apply logic and knowledge of various options in an environment requiring speedy, high-quality decisions.
• This position requires a person capable of responding promptly to accidents and emergencies in an effective manner.
• This position requires the ability to lift, carry or move children or equipment up to 40 pounds.
• This position requires working in a noisy environment with many separate activities happening all at once.
• This position involves occasional work in outdoor weather conditions.
• This position involves substantial movements of the wrists, hands and/or fingers, as in keyboard use or other means of silently recording information on computers.
• This position involves experiencing smells associated with toileting and ill children.
• This position requires spending time sitting on the floor or on child-sized furniture.
• This position requires responding in a high-demand environment with people in varying degrees of distress.

Employees should expect to perform some tasks that are outside the scope of the job description.

Employee Benefits:

Choice of 3 Medical Plans • 30 Days PTO, plus 10 days of paid holidays • Dental Insurance • Vision • Life Insurance • Long-Term Disability • 403b Retirement Plan • Flexible Spending Accounts • Health Savings Account • Employee Assistance Program • Counseling Session Reimbursement • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Training

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Wellspring employees may use their time with us toward their eligibility for student loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF).

Lead Preschool Teacher

Pay Premiums

Standard Hourly Pay: $27.00 per hour

The successful candidate must demonstrate to Wellspring’s satisfaction that they meet one or more of the preferred qualifications before a premium can be added to the standard pay. Final pay is defined by Wellspring based on verifiable information and documentation provided by the candidate during the recruitment process.

Wellspring does not engage in wage negotiation as it contributes to pay inequity.

Premiums:

• A.A. in Early Childhood Education (ECE) or AA in any field with 30 ECE credits MERIT verified = $28.57 per hour starting pay
• B.A. in ECE or B.A. related to ECE with 30 ECE credits MERIT verified = $30.39 per hour starting pay