Director of Early Education and Care

26-27 Director of Early Education and Care

Join to apply for the 26-27 Director of Early Education and Care role at Somerville Public Schools.

Job Goal: The Director of Early Education and Care plays a critical leadership role in advancing Somerville’s vision for a comprehensive, inclusive, and high-quality early education system. This position is responsible for overseeing the implementation of a cohesive, mixed-delivery model that ensures all young children are prepared to meet and exceed Kindergarten readiness benchmarks. Success in this role requires strong collaboration and clear communication with District and City departments, community partners, families, and peer communities across the state.

The Director is also a key member of Somerville’s First Five early childhood cross-sector steering committee working closely with the City of Somerville’s Somer Promise Department and the Somerville Family Learning Collaborative (SFLC) of the Somerville Public Schools.

• SPS Staff Supervision
  • Supervise and support SPS prekindergarten and kindergarten educators in collaboration with school principals.
  • Supervise and support a team of instructional coaches, specialists and clinicians who provide a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) for children across the mixed-delivery system.
  • Supervise and support the Somerville Childcare Center Director.
  • Supervise and support the Early Childhood Grant Administrative Project Coordinator who oversees Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative (CPPI) state grant.
• Implementation and Alignment of Early Childhood mixed-delivery system in Somerville
• Education
  • Access
    • Ensure equitable access to high quality Early Childhood programs for all Somerville families.
    • Quality Alignment.
    • Develop curriculum, based on SEE Every Child, to meet the Core Curriculum Content Standards.
    • Visit, support, and monitor Somerville Partnership for Young Children (SPYC) programs on a regular basis and oversee continuous quality improvement plans.
  • Special Education and Inclusion
    • Work closely with the SPS Director of Special Education to oversee and expand SPYC’s Early Childhood multi-tiered system of supports.
    • Collaborate with partner programs to support early identification of additional needs.
  • Family Engagement and transitions
    • Collaborate with SFLC to implement best practices in family engagement and transitions throughout the early childhood system.
    • Provide leadership for a summer transition program for children entering Kindergarten.
    • Work closely with SFLC on the Kindergarten transition plan, and on support and resources for families.
  • Workforce Development
    • Provide regular, high quality development opportunities for the Somerville Early Childhood workforce including workshops, conferences, visitations, demonstration lessons, and peer-led sessions in which staff share successful practices and strategies.
    • Work in partnership with CTE staff at Somerville High School to promote the early education pipeline from SHS to area colleges.
    • Collaborate with the Somerville Center for Adult Learning Experiences (SCALE) to institutionalize and promote Early Childhood workforce development program.
  • Cross-Sector Collaboration and Communication
    • Work closely and collaboratively with local agencies and cross-sector groups including the Somerville Partnership for Young Children (SPYC), the Somerville Children’s Cabinet, the Somerville Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC), the First Five Steering Committee and pertinent working groups.
    • State officials, local universities, and colleagues in peer communities.
    • Report education-related data, trends, and emerging needs within the community.
    • Be prepared to present aspects of the Somerville Early Childhood ecosystem, trends, and emerging needs in a variety of public settings, including regular attendance at School Committee.
    • Support local and state level advocacy efforts.
  • Assessment and Evaluation
    • Use data to identify student and instructional needs, including analysis of assessments to improve instruction.
    • Evaluate programs and services on a regular basis to encourage the use of a variety of instructional strategies and materials consistent with research on early childhood…