Special Education Assistant II- Mountain View Upper Elementary-2026-27 School Year

Are you looking to work in a school division where students are engaged in authentic, challenging, and relevant learning experiences, becoming lifelong contributors and leaders in our dynamic and diverse society? In Albemarle County Public Schools, we work together as a team to end the predictive value of race, class, gender, and special capacities for our children’s success through high-quality teaching and learning for all. We seek to build relationships with families and communities to ensure that every student succeeds. We will know every student!

About the Role

The Special Education Assistant II provides support to the instructional program with specific responsibility for assisting in the supervision, care, and instruction of students with special needs; assisting in implementing plans for instruction; monitoring student behavior; documenting activities and progress; and supporting students’ IEP goals. This role includes extended classroom support and follow-up for students who receive special services, monitoring and modeling evidence/research-based behavior intervention strategies, helping with data collection and analysis, and ensuring behavior interventions are practiced with fidelity. The position serves as a resource for equitable opportunities for students with challenging behaviors and maintains interventions with existing school supports.

Responsibilities

• Develops and maintains a pleasant and orderly classroom environment (e.g., maintaining instructional materials, designing bulletin boards, assisting in clean-up activities).
• Assists students in completing learning tasks assigned by classroom teachers.
• Leads and/or facilitates teaching in 1:1, small group, or whole class instruction.
• Carries out instructional plans as designated by the classroom teacher and, if appropriate, the student's Individual Educational Plan (IEP).
• Maintains student training data according to prescribed procedures.
• Assists individual students in following routines, directions, schedules, and completing tasks, adhering strictly to daily schedules and IEPs.
• Procures, sets up, and operates audio-visual equipment.
• Assists in developing and implementing individual student schedules, sensory programs, motor group activities, discrete trial drills, and/or student behavior management plans.
• Creates alternative activities for independent work based on teacher-directed activities.
• Assists in coordinating school and home supports and work tasks.
• Assists with data collection and facilitating accommodations as required by the classroom teacher or supervisor.
• Communicates effectively with the special education teacher to help facilitate IEP goals.
• Demonstrates cooperation, openness for growth, and willingness to contribute to a team approach in the educational program.
• Assists in maintaining students' records, collecting lunch monies, and related instructional activities (e.g., field trips, library, assembly) as directed.
• Monitors student attendance, behavior, and suspension data.
• Performs clerical duties such as typing, filing, and duplicating at the direction of the classroom teacher.
• Provides direct support to staff by introducing and modeling research/evidence-based interventions.
• Provides direct support to students by teaching and modeling research/evidence-based interventions and curriculum.
• Coordinates with specialists and school staff to implement behavior curriculum, develop effective intervention plans, and create crisis/safety plans.
• Provides transition plans and support for students moving between educational settings.
• Provides interventions to enable students to remain in school and/or help stabilize them.
• Supervises and trains students in the lunchroom or during lunch periods and other non-instructional periods as directed.
• Maintains a notebook monitored by the special education teacher and specialists, containing weekly behavior logs, Behavior Intervention Plans (BIP) with progress notes, social skills lesson plans, incident reports, and logs of communication with school staff, family, and outside agencies.
• Assists students with daily living skills (e.g., toileting, feeding, diaper changes, positioning).
• Assists with deregulated students.
• Participates in team meetings.
• Assists with medical-related duties (e.g., catheterization, gastrointestinal feedings, assistive breathing devices, colostomy, and ileostomy needs).
• Assists with carry-over of related services (e.g., Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Speech, Adapted Physical Education, and Vision).
• Performs other duties as assigned by the classroom teacher or principal.

Requirements

• Ability to develop and maintain an empathetic attitude toward students with disabilities.
• Willingness to learn specialized instructional and management techniques for students with disabilities.
• Ability to communicate and develop effective working relationships with students, parents, and staff.
• High school graduate or equivalent; willingness to seek and maintain CPR certification.
• Any combination of education and experience equivalent to graduation from high school, including basic keyboard and filing training.

Working Conditions

Duties are typically performed in school settings, including classrooms, gyms, cafeterias, auditoriums, and recreational areas. The role requires frequent walking, standing, light lifting (up to 80 pounds), and physical activities necessary for the movement and comfort of disabled students. Occasional travel with students on field trips may be necessary. Regular movement of students using wheelchairs and other mechanical devices may be required. Personal hygiene tasks, such as changing catheters, diapers, and clothing, may be necessary. Training and immunization against blood-borne pathogens may be required.

• Occasional lifting of equipment such as audio-visuals weighing up to 50 pounds.
• Occasional attendance at parent conferences, building-level meetings, division-wide meetings, and training activities beyond normal assigned hours.
• Daily personal and close contact with children to provide classroom management and learning environment support.
• Regular contact with other staff members, parents, and medical professionals, requiring tact and diplomacy.
• Must work within various degrees of noise, temperature, and air quality.
• Routine interruptions of work.
• Job responsibilities include both inside and outside duties, requiring flexibility and patience.
• Must be self-motivated and able to complete job assignments independently.
• After-hour work may be required.
• Must be able to work under stressful conditions.
• Knowledge of universal hygiene precautions.
• May be subject to physical and emotional outbursts by students, including hitting, kicking, spitting, scratching, and biting.
• Dexterity of hands and fingers to assist/restrain students and operate specialized equipment or office equipment.
• Sitting or standing for extended periods of time.
• Bending at the waist, kneeling, or crouching to assist students.
• Seeing to read a variety of materials and monitor student activities.
• Hearing and speaking to exchange information.
• Reaching overhead, above the shoulders, and horizontally.
• Lifting or moving children from wheelchairs to tables or desks.

Benefits

• Competitive pay and benefits, including health and dental coverage.
• Retirement plans.
• Flexible spending accounts.
• Paid time off.
• Wellness program.
• Discounts on gym memberships.