Benefits:

401(k)

Dental insurance

Employee discounts

Health insurance

Opportunity for advancement

Paid time off

Training & development

Vision insurance

Job Title: Pre-K Counts Lead Teacher

FLSA Status: Non-Exempt, Permanent, Full-time, 40 hrs/week

Shifts: 7:00AM-4:00pm (one hour lunch break)

Work Week: Monday – Friday

Supervisor: Senior Director, Early Education Center

Age Groups: Pre-K /Preschool

Location: Pottstown, PA

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

YWCA Tri-County Area is looking for dedicated individuals to serve as lead teachers in our STARS 4 Early Education Center in Pottstown. Our EEC vision is to create a community of learning where children experience a sense of wonder and exploration – where everyone feels a sense of connection and participates with others in ways that create new possibilities for making the world a better place.

YWCA Tri-County Area is an Equal Opportunity Employer offering competitive salaries and benefit packages.

Position opportunities are based on candidates’ individual educational qualifications. We currently have lead infant/toddler, Pre-K Counts, and school age opportunities available. Pre-K Counts teachers must possess the necessary certifications.

WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING:

Early Education Lead Teachers are responsible for developing a cohesive teaching team, coordinating the curriculum, and managing the day-to-day operational activities of the classroom. Teachers must understand children’s social and emotional, language, cognitive and physical development in order to ensure a safe and stimulating classroom environment where children are actively engaged and encouraged to succeed. Teachers must be skilled in communicating with both children and adults in order to meet the needs of the children, effectively guide teacher assistants, and resolve family concerns. Each Early Education Teacher understands and promotes education and early childhood development as defined in YWCA Tri-County Area’s (YW3CA) Policies and Procedures, and mission statement.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Coordinate and implement educational curriculum by developing classroom activities based on developmentally appropriate practices and early learning standards.

• Ensures the program operations meets funding and licensing guidelines with regards to screenings, assessments, curricula, supervision of children, child safety and reporting.

• Plan individual and group age-appropriate activities to actively engage children and encourage social, cognitive, and emotional growth.

• Pre-K: Use interest areas to teach content areas: literacy, mathematics, science, socialstudies, the arts and technology as well as to build social-emotional skills.

• Maintain daily communications including written communication using daily reports with families through informal discussions, Tadpoles messages, phone calls, report cards, and conferences.

• Ensure all center policies and state regulations are met.

• Ensure a healthy classroom environment – including maintaining appropriate hygiene and cleanliness meeting Caring for Our Children’s standards for safety and security of children.

• Supervise teacher assistants and classroom volunteers to ensure they are following planned activities, hygiene, cleanliness, and safety standards, including use of primary groups.

• Maintain timely and accurate records, forms and files including recording daily observations.

• Maintain personal professional development plan to ensure continuous quality improvement.

• Ensure the safety of children and staff.

• Actively contributes in team meetings at which families are participants.

• Attends and participates in all in-service training and monthly staff meetings as identified by the Early Education Director to increase competency in job performance.

• Lead by example; encourage teaching team success through teaching, modeling, and coaching.

• Maintains confidentiality in all children and family records.

• Completes special projects specific to the function of the service area or as needed for the area as directed by the supervisor.

• Support families/staff using the P.E.A.C.E. model for problem-solving.

• Use inclusive language and Conscious Discipline skills and powers in all communication.

• Other duties as assigned within the scope of position expectations.

WHAT YOU’LL BRING TO THE POSITION:

• A strong understanding of child development.

• Excellent leadership, organizational, and interpersonal skills. • High energy and the ability to work well with others (team members, children, families) and to foster a team environment.

• Ability to work with parents in the community and other volunteers

• Understanding of diverse family dynamics and cultural differences with the ability to work with and empower families

• Understanding of YW3CA mission, goals, and objectives and ability to work independently with a high level of energy and contribute as part of a larger team.

• Knowledge of the concepts and practices associated with early childhood education and child development issues

• Knowledge of and sensitive to the issues facing the community served.

• Strong interpersonal skills as demonstrated by compassionate, courteous, cordial, cooperative, and professional interaction with diverse groups of co-workers, families, and members of the community.

• Strong oral and written communication skills and basic computer skills including Microsoft Office, spreadsheets, and customized databases.

• Effective and accurate ability to create lesson plans using daily observations

Other Position Factors

The other position factors described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential tasks of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Requirements include:

o The ability to take frequent walks, use hands and fingers, handle objects, tools or controls, talk to and hear voices at many levels.

o The ability to kneel, bend, squat or crawl and stand for periods of time in both indoor and outdoor environments

o A specific vision ability including the ability to see up close and up to a certain distance, to see colors, have peripheral vision and depth perception.

o The ability to lift 50 pounds.

o The ability to sit on the floor and/or ground outside to be actively involved with the children.

• Position may require occasional trips to attend conferences, seminars, and meetings.

• May require working non-traditional hours based on operational needs.

Education & Experience:

• Pre-K Counts requires a bachelor’s degree in ECE or related field and Instructional 1 or 2 (birth-grade 3 or birth-Pre K). We can accept an emergency certification with plans to move to instructional 1 within a year of hire.

• I/T requires a minimum of associate degree or bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, with 9 credits specifically related to infant toddler care or Infant/Toddler CDA.

• Infant/child CPR and First Aid certification.

Benefits**:

Affordable Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance.

Annual Paid Business Closures according to the organization’s annual Business Closure Calendar

Voluntary MetLaw benefit provides employees with professional legal counsel for a broad range of legal services.

Voluntary Term Life Insurance provides employees’ beneficiaries with a financial protection plan.

Voluntary Hospital Indemnity Insurance provides a range of fixed, lump-sum daily benefits to help cover costs associated with a hospital admission, including room and board costs.

Voluntary Accident Insurance provides a range of fixed, lump‐sum benefits for injuries resulting from a covered accident.

Voluntary Critical Illness Insurance provides a fixed, lump- sum benefit upon diagnosis of a critical illness, which can include heart attack, stroke, paralysis and more.

Voluntary Flexible Spending Account provides support for employees’ out-of-pocket health care costs.

Short-Term and Long-Term Disability Insurance at no cost to the employee.

Voluntary 401K Retirement plan includes an employer match in relation to employee’s contributions.

YWCA Retirement Plan: After two years and two thousand hours, you are automatically vested into the plan. YW3CA contributes a percent of an employee’s gross each pay, currently at 7.5% and the fund also matches 3%.

Generous Paid Time Off plan (including Vacation, Sick, and Personal PTO) which includes partial PTO rollover each calendar year.

Tuition discounts for a variety of undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs at the selected higher education institutions: Alvernia University, Chestnut Hill College, Delaware Valley University, and Widener University. Discounts vary depending on institution and program.

Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offers employees family care services, legal services, and financial services

Employee Discount on private pay childcare tuition.

Through American Funds, employees have access to the College America 529 Saving Plan that has significant tax advantages and allows employees to build a college fund for their family’s educational needs.

**Restrictions may apply based on position hours