Early Learning Teacher - Infant/Toddler

General Summary

Under the direction of the director, the Lead Teacher is responsible for providing a warm, nurturing, stimulating, safe, and loving environment, where each child has the opportunity to develop cognitive, verbal, social, emotional, and physical skills appropriately.

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

• Plans and implements a culturally sensitive educational program that is developmentally appropriate for each child’s age and language.
• Plans and implements daily lesson plans based on the approved curriculum to promote cognitive, verbal, social, emotional and physical development of children.
• Covers ongoing assessment and individualization documentation in a timely manner.
• Plans a balanced daily routine that encourages play, exploration and learning, and which includes teacher-directed and child-directed activities, both inside and outside.
• Provides a developmentally appropriate, stimulating learning environment that includes adding new and interesting materials each week, meeting the developmental levels of all children in the group, including children with special needs, over the course of their enrollment.
• Children’s Health and Developmental Services: Conducts daily health checks on each child. Plans weekly activities that promote a healthy lifestyle. Follows policies and procedures regarding medical and dental emergencies, short-term exclusion of children, and the administration, handling and storing of medication. Ensures safe practices are followed to prevent injuries to children or others. Maintains sanitation and hygienic classroom.
• Nutrition: May eat with children, encouraging proper eating habits and conversation. Serves food in a way that encourages the development and socialization of the children. Assists in kitchen duties, as assigned. Follows infants’ individual feeding schedules and holds infants who cannot sit independently while feeding.
• Family Partnerships: Attends parent meetings as assigned. Informs parents concerning their children’s progress formally and informally, including parent notes, portfolios, and parent conferences. Maintains transition procedures for children moving from classroom to classroom, along with other appropriate staff. Plans and implements family involvement activities.
• Training and Communication: Participates in on-site and off-site professional development trainings and workshops; completes a minimum of 35 annual in-service training hours. Maintains confidentiality at all times.

Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities Required

• Practicing Catholic in good standing with the Church preferred.
• Must be flexible, work well with others, and have excellent communication skills with parents or co-teachers.
• A minimum of a high school diploma or GED. DCF 45-hour training; National CDA, required for VPK. If currently holding a valid DCF Staff Credential, s/he may start the DCF 45-hour training within 30 days of hire and complete it within 6 months.
• Prior experience in a child care setting preferred.
• Knowledge of child growth and development as well as developmentally appropriate practices for children ages birth to 5 years.
• Knowledge of applicable safety and abuse reporting procedures.
• Must successfully pass the required criminal background check prior to employment and every five years; must complete Protecting God’s Children (PGC) workshop prior to employment.

Reasoning Abilities

• Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
• Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

Physical Demands

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; and talk or hear.
• The employee must regularly lift and/or move up to 30 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, and ability to adjust focus.