Early Childhood Lead Teacher

Responsibilities Classroom Community

• Create and foster a warm and inclusive classroom environment through following school-wide practices for behavior management, encouraging child expression and autonomy, and setting and maintaining consistent routines and high expectations.
• Foster classroom productivity and maximize learning time, while engaging children with a variety of modalities and materials.
• Provide instructional support through concept development, fostering children’s analysis and reasoning, engaging in feedback loops, and modeling and supporting high-quality language.

• Implement curriculum with fidelity through backward lesson planning, following school-wide protocols for developing and documenting syllabi, lesson plans, assignments, and rubrics, and utilizing research-based best practices to support all learners.
• Prepare or modify weekly lesson plans and prepare to implement small-group activities, read-alouds, circle time, and other curriculum components.
• Interact with children intentionally throughout the day to provide differentiated support.

• Consistently track, monitor, and assume responsibility for the academic progress of all students, implementing developmentally appropriate strategies for each child in class.
• Complete developmental and social-emotional screenings.
• Integrate Individual Education Plans (IEPs) or referral action plans for children with diagnosed or suspected special needs.

• Establish and maintain strong relationships and regularly communicate students’ progress towards academic, social-emotional, and behavioral goals and with families.
• Collaborate with family services staff to support families in implementing family life practices, extending learning into the home, and meeting expectations for attendance.

• Participate in ongoing reflective coaching and self-assessment.
• Work with assistant teacher, grade team, leadership team, and other staff to analyze data, revise practices, norm on team-wide initiatives, share persistent information, and discuss individual students with a solutions-oriented mindset.

• Establish and maintain a safe, healthy learning environment, including full supervision of children at all times, in accordance with Head Start and childcare licensing requirements.
• Conduct daily health/safety monitoring of the environment.
• Follow all health and hygiene practices, including hand-washing, sanitizing, and universal precautions.
• Supervise mealtimes and “family style dining” with children.
• Maintain required documentation.
• Additional duties related to the running of the school as assigned.

• Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education or a related field AND a valid NYS Teaching Certification, OR
• Minimum Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education or a related field AND two years of supervised, documented teaching experience in a preschool program, OR
• On track to meet criteria 1 or 2, with proof of enrollment in a college program and a timeline to complete within 18 months of hire AND one of the following: an Associate's Degree in early childhood education; 90+ college credits plus one year of classroom experience teaching PreK-2nd grade; or a Bachelor's Degree in any subject plus one year of classroom experience up to 3rd grade.

• At least two years of Pre‑K classroom teaching experience, strongly preferred.
• NYS Certification in Early Childhood Education, strongly preferred.
• Bilingual (Spanish), preferred.
• Demonstrated computer literacy skills (Google Suite, Microsoft Suite, etc.).
• A desire to make a difference in the lives of our students, families, and community.
• A desire and ability to receive and implement feedback.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with various audiences.
• A commitment to working with diverse populations of families and students.
• A strong belief in the mission and values of DREAM, including the desire to make a difference in the lives of our students, families, and community.
• Obtain and maintain certification in CPR and first…