Head Start Teacher Jobs in Kentucky

Job Summary:

The candidate for this position will possess the knowledge and skills to provide preschool age children developmentally appropriate early childhood education experiences within a safe, nurturing environment, while promoting the eleven identified domains and domain elements of child development, meet Head Start mandates for school readiness, effectively manage classroom and classroom personnel, meet CLASS criteria, facilitate the daily schedule and lesson plan, provide efficient and appropriate documentation/record-keeping, conduct data entry for documentation of children’s progress, and maintain open communication with parents, staff, supervisor, and volunteers.

Qualifications:

Education and Experience

· Meet requirements of Head Start Program Performance Standards and/or Kentucky Division of Regulated Childcare.

o High school Diploma or General Equivalency Diploma (GED)

o Associate in Early Childhood Education or Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education

Knowledge and Skills

· Communicate orally and in writing effectively with diverse groups and demonstrate effective listening skills, respect, be concise and clear, and provide positive body language and empathy with valid feedback.

· Have strong communication skills.

· Must have the ability to use Microsoft Office and other software programs for documentation, record-keeping, monitoring, and reporting.

· Bilingual/bicultural English/Spanish is desirable.

· Maintain strong organizational skills (organizational skills listed below are not all inclusive).

o Ability to creating structure and order to boost productivity.

o Ability to prioritize tasks that must be completed immediately, versus those that can be postponed.

o Ability to develop work habits that prevent procrastination, clutter, miscommunication, and inefficiency.

o Ability to keep work and work area neat and organized.

· Ability to meet deadlines in a timely manner.

· Support family engagement through relationship-based competencies.

Physical Demands

Physically lift a minimum of 50 pounds, be able to physically move in a manner suitable to provide care for small children (kneel, crawl, bend, stoop, squat, walk fast/run) and work outdoors in seasonal weather conditions. Must be able to sit for long periods of time and complete computer-related job duties.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Must comply with all BGP Policies & Procedures, Head Start Performance Standards, Kentucky Childcare Regulations, Health, Fire, Safety, and other applicable local, state, and federal regulations.

Ability to carry out job responsibilities independently.

· Responsible for maintaining documentation and records for Education, Nutrition, and Attendance.

· Responsible for conducting screening and assessment of assigned Head Start children to meet Head Start Performance Standards including 45- & 90-day requirements with referral as indicated.

· Responsible to facilitate a positive environment conducive to learning and free of activity that may negatively impact children including physical punishment, negative discipline methods that hurt, frighten, or humiliate children.

· Responsible to model, support, and monitor good hygiene, health, and safety practices.

Supervision and management of classroom staff and volunteers

· Responsible to develop, implement, and support the Head Start Teacher Associate’s professional development plan with support from the Education Specialist (HS).

· Responsible to partner with Head Start Teacher Associate and supervise the Education Support, Substitutes, and Volunteers assigned to the classroom; and provide in-put to Substitutes job performance appraisals with support of the Education Specialist (HS)

· Responsible to partner with Head Start Teacher Associate and train new staff and volunteers placed in classroom.

· Responsible to assist families in opportunities to volunteer in the classroom and center.

Classroom management supervision, and teaching practices

· Responsible for expanding the child’s learning and understanding and to encourage their participation.

· Responsible to provide a classroom atmosphere that is warm, secure, and trust building, encourages parents and children to express their feelings and is comfortable, promotes positive guidance for preschoolers, modeling and encouraging “good manners” and respect for adults and others, is positive, with an enthusiastic attitude towards children/families, and models respect and support of children/family’s culture

· Responsible to ensure all required postings are displayed prominently in the classroom including but not limited to lesson plans, daily schedule, children’s artwork/work, Kentucky Childcare Licensing required postings, etc.

· Responsible for teacher-child interactions and what teachers do with available materials, how the teacher promotes higher-order thinking skills and cognition as well as the teacher’s focus on understanding rather than rote instruction (implementation of CLASS strategies).

· Utilizes resources provided to facilitate the completion of planned activities, lesson plans, screenings, and assessments.

· Responsible to monitor child’s progress in the on-going assessment, including documenting observations and anecdotal notes, and refer as appropriate.

· Responsible for individualizing for children in the classroom based on parent input, ongoing assessment, screening data, observation, and other identified sources.

· Will implement the Individual Education Plan (IEP) and Response to Intervention (RT) for children identified with special needs or suspected of having a disability by using an inclusive approach.

· Responsible to follow the curriculum to fidelity using The Fidelity Tool for Teachers/Administrators.

· Responsible to provide lesson plans that meets program requirements, are individualized to meet the needs of each child, supports cultural diversity, supports, and addresses language, literacy, mathematics, science, creative arts, logic & reasoning, social studies, social and emotional development, approaches to learning, physical health, and English language development in preparation of school readiness

Parent Involvement and Inclusion

· Will acknowledge parents as their child’s first and primary teacher and reinforces this with practical suggestions for developing this belief, working with the parent to plan the home visit experience (lesson plan), demonstrating / instructing the parent in lesson plan activities, observing the parent – child interaction and providing feedback.

· Responsible to provide parents with screening and assessment results, a schedule/calendar of program events, activities, and revisions, and information concerning their child as well as classroom and program activities/events.

· Responsible to plan and conduct home visits and parent teacher conversations, as appropriate or as needed, to facilitate communication with parents regarding expectations, concerns, their child’s developmental progress or needs

· Will maintain an “open door” policy to the classroom for parents to visit / volunteer and responsible to orient parents to the environment and activities.

· Responsible to maintain and document communication with parents per written information, telephone contact, and home visits.

Other

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change, or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $13.34 - $23.30 per hour

Expected hours: 40.0 per week

Benefits:

• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Employee discount
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person