Early Education and Care Teacher

Early Education and Care Teacher

We are seeking a full time Early Education and Care Teacher for our Monument Square Early Childhood Center. The Center enrolls infants, toddlers and preschoolers, and school agers serving a total of 81 children. The Center is licensed by the Department of Early Education and Care. In addition to early childhood education and enrichment activities, other services include two meals and one snack, transportation, case management, mental health and assessment services.

Responsible for planning and executing a nurturing environment and a high quality educational program in line with the philosophy and program goals of Child Care of the Berkshires. This position will work collaboratively with North Adams Public Schools on the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative (CPPI) grant activities and attend training to assure a seamless transition for children into kindergarten.

General qualifications include:

• Must demonstrate enjoyment of children and solid understanding of child growth and development.
• Prefer degree in early childhood education or related field or advanced training and relevant experience. Minimally, must be EEC teacher qualified: one college-level child development course and 9 months of previous experience in a licensed child care center.
• General knowledge of nutrition, health, and first aid.
• Knowledge of NAEYC developmentally appropriate practices for early childhood programs.
• Ability to assist with the implementation of nurturing, stimulating and developmentally appropriate curriculum activities.
• Ability to communicate clearly, tactfully, and respectfully with children, parents, coworkers and supervisors as well as community members, both orally and in written form.
• Ability to supervise children through good vision and hearing capabilities.
• Must demonstrate a commitment to value diversity and contribute to an equitable and inclusive working and learning environment including the ability to establish rapport with persons of different ethnic, cultural, economic, and sexual orientation backgrounds.
• Ability to report to work on time and demonstrate regular attendance.
• Ability to calmly handle stressful and emergency situations.
• Ability to accept constructive feedback and direction and to implement changes as needed for continued professional growth.
• Ability to process, analyze, and integrate information and must demonstrate good decision-making skills concerning program policies and procedures.
• Must be able to follow general classroom cleaning and sanitization procedures.
• Must be able to complete a background record check successfully.

Physical requirement:
Must have good physical health to meet demands of teaching: ability to walk, stand, sit, stoop, and lift and carry children weighing up to 50 lbs for extended periods of time as needed. Ability to move quickly, maintain visual contact with broad area, and get up and down from the floor, and engage in a variety of physical activities with the children.

Must be mature and have good mental health in order to meet the mental demands of working with children.

Work environment:
Employees work in a classroom setting, and the noise level is sometimes high. Employees are regularly required to sit, walk, stand, talk or hear, both in person and by telephone; reach with both hands and lift up to 50 pounds.

Work schedule and hours:
This is a 40 hours per week, year round non-exempt position. Our centers are open from 7:00am until 5:00pm, Monday through Friday. The schedule will be based on an 8 hour opening or closing shift. Some meetings/events will be required, outside of traditional working hours.

Salary range: $19.33 to $24.70 per hour, commensurate with experience. This position offers generous benefits including health, vision, and dental insurance, sick and vacation time as well as paid holidays, paid closure days, retirement plan and child care reimbursement.

Child Care of the Berkshires is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer.