Nature Preschool Educator Aldo Leopold Nature Center

Position Summary

Nature preschool educators are primarily responsible for the supervision and education of the students enrolled at ALNP and maintaining safe and engaging indoor and outdoor classroom spaces. Educators should be eager to spend a majority of every day outside in all weather, facilitating the hands-on, nature-based, child-centered, emergent-style curriculum, supporting and encouraging students to learn to love learning while playing outside.

ALNP’s ideal candidate has a genuine love for young children, a deep personal connection to nature and a strong commitment to high quality early childhood programming.

Specific duties and responsibilities include:

• Teach Nature Beginnings, our preschool class that serves as an introduction to early childhood outdoor education.
• Lead Lunch Bunch, our preschool lunch program.
• Carry out all aspects of the ALNP daily activities and routines. Collaborate and plan with co-teachers to maintain a healthy, safe, engaging, and positive environment for children that supports positive whole-child development. Implement daily practices and routines within a nature play-based, emergent curriculum that promotes early childhood development and deep nature connections.
• Demonstrate a desire to work outdoors and an eagerness to learn about the natural world through the eyes of a child.
• Guide students in their learning and explorations in a calm, encouraging and consistent manner.

• Experience working with early childhood age children in formal and/or non-formal education settings.
• Excellent communication skills with adults and children.
• Excitement about the natural environment and a demonstrated ability to share that excitement with young children.
• Desire to work outside in all weather and have willingness and ability to meet physical demands of the position (i.e., hike over uneven terrain, bending, kneeling).
• Knowledge of regional flora and fauna preferred, but not required.
• Superior work ethic, self-starter, strong attention to detail, excellent organization & planning skills.
• Preferred:
  Bachelor’s degree in environmental education, education, early childhood education, natural science or related field. Experience can supplant the degree requirement. ALNC values wisdom and experience and understands that this may not come through a formal degree.
• Compliance with DCF educational and experience-related specifications for early childhood teachers. Training will be provided if needed.
• Team player with the ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously; able to shift gears quickly.
• Tact and sensitivity with the public, program participants, staff, and volunteers.
• Standard First Aid and Adult/Infant & Child CPR/AED and Abusive Head Trauma training required. Training will be provided.

The starting pay for this position is $20 per hour.

This is a nine month position from August 2026 to June 2027. Expected start date is August 24, 2026. Hourly nine month educator positions follow the ALNP school calendar and can opt in to teaching other programs available at ALNC if it fits within their schedule. We are searching for a teacher on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the following programs:

• Tuesday and Thursday 8:30-11:00 (Nature Beginnings class)
• Tuesday and Thursday 11:30-12:30 (Lunch Bunch)