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Job Opening Date: May 15, 2024

Job Closing Date: Until filled

Anticipated Start Date: August 2024

Job Status: This is a full time, seasonal position (either 32 hours or 40 hours, dependent upon applications)

Wage: $20.00/hour

Job Location: Head Start Center

General Summary of Purpose of this Position:

Assists in the instruction of children in activities designed to promote social, physical, and intellectual growth needed for primary school in preschool, day care center, or other child development facility.

Specific Duties and Responsibilities:

This position has the following duties and responsibilities. They are listed starting with the most important. This listing does not include minor duties which constitute less than 5% of the position’s time, unless such duties are significantly important or critical to the success of the position. Each of the duties listed below is considered an essential function of this job. (Essential functions are those functions that the employee must be able to perform unaided or with the assistance of a reasonable accommodation. Regular and predictable work schedule and attendance are considered essential functions).

Primary Job Duties and Responsibilities

Instructional Responsibilities:

• Assists in the planning and implementation of individual and group activities to stimulate growth in language, cognitive, social/emotional, and motor skills following appropriate framework and curriculum guidelines;

• Instructs children in practices of personal cleanliness and self care including caring for own clothing and picking up and putting away toys and books;

• Alternates periods of strenuous activity with periods of rest or light activity to avoid over stimulation and to ensure recommended activity levels to help prevent childhood obesity;

• Ensures that activities are culturally sensitive.

  Educational Development Evaluations:

• Interacts and communicates with parents, children, staff and other professionals to assess each enrolled child and work with family and teachers to develop appropriate educational goals;

• Works with other members of HRDC and school staff in sharing concerns and implementing plans to implement educational development plans;

• Works with support staff to supply families with resource information and personal contact when appropriate or advised

• Works with teacher to maintain records on each child, including assessment results, goals for each child, results of individualized activities, staffing notes, individual in kind, and home visit and conference records;

• Plans, documents, and implements home visits and conferences with teacher as required.

  Record Keeping:

• Works with teachers to maintain all program forms applicable to job role (daily plans, home visits, parent conferences, attendance records, etc.) and submitting such forms to designated persons in a timely manner.

  Continuing Education & Program Development:

• Enhance program quality, participates in evaluation of self and program; attends mandatory program training and local and out-of-town training as applicable;

• Attends mandatory program training and local and out-of-town training as applicable, and maintains continued education units and licensure as required

• Register and update annually online with the Montana Early Care and Education Practitioner Registry.

  Food and Nutrition:

• Serves meals and refreshments to children following Family Style Dining Guidelines.

• Assists to ensure food is prepared, distributed, and cleaned up and food preparation and serving areas are clean.

  Classroom Cleaning:

• Maintains a safe, healthy, attractive classroom learning environment; ensures cleanliness of physical space.

  Knowledge Skills and Abilities:

  Language Skills

• Read and comprehend basic instructions and present information to others

• Read, interpret, and write routine reports and correspondence

• Interpret and write general business documents or technical procedures

• Bilingual Spanish preferred

  Mathematical/ Money Handling Skills:

• Basic counting skills;

• Add, subtract, multiply, and divide simple numbers.

  Reasoning Ability:

• Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form;

• Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists;

• Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form;

• Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.

  Computer Skills:

• Words per Minute Computer Keyboard Required: Demonstrate Proficiency

• 10-Key Strokes per Minute Data Entry Required: Demonstrate Proficiency

  Specialized Office Equipment:

• Operate fax machine to send or receive documents;

• Operate Scanner to capture text or graphics and save or import them in application program for further use;

• Operate 10-key Adding Machine to add, subtract, divide or multiple numbers.

  Computer Software and Operating Systems :

• Utilize computer Word Processing to input, format, and edit documents and save, print, or transmit documents;

• Utilize computer spreadsheet to input, format and edit data and save, print, or transmit data;

• Utilize computer data bases to create data files, input, format and edit data and save, print, or transmit data;

• Utilize computer internet/ e-mail to access, send, retrieve, save, print or transmit documents, or data files;

• Operate personal computer with Windows operating system to start programs, input, format and edit data files and print or transmit data;

• Utilize proprietary, custom or online programs or data bases to edit, format and input data, save, print, or transmit data.

• Specify Software: Child Plus, Teaching Strategies, and other programs.

  Specialized Tools (Non-Computer):

• Classroom tools including chalkboard, whiteboard, and projector.

  HRDC, professional or Governmental Policies and Regulations:

• State or Federal Regulations or Laws (List by Name): Head Start or MT State Board of Education regulations, depending on the classroom

• Agency Policies or Procedures (List by Name): HRDC Policies and Procedures

• Specialized Professional or Industry Guidelines/Standards

  Drivers Licenses Required for Performing this Position:

• Class D Drivers License and appropriate insurance

  Professional Licenses or Certifications Required by Law, Rule or Regulation for Performing this Position:

• Incumbent must pass a physical exam which results in a letter stating person is free of communicable diseases by employment date;

• TB Screening Questionnaire and/or skin test (needed every five years);

• Tetanus vaccination;

• First Aid Card, including CPR training;

• Satisfactory results from criminal check as required by Child/Adult Abuse Act.

  Other Required Knowledge, Skills or Abilities:

• Ability to effectively work and communicate with a wide range of individuals from all socio-economic groups;

• Ability to read, interpret and implement documents such as governmental regulations, rules, and procedure manuals;

• Ability work with minimal supervision and effectively manage work flow;

• Ability to respond effectively to the most sensitive inquiries or complaints from customers or claimants;

• Able to work some evenings and weekends.

  Essential Physical, Mental and Emotional Requirements of this Position

  The following physical, mental and emotional abilities are considered essential to perform the duties listed above:

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; talk and hear;

• The employee must regularly lift and/or move up to 10 pounds, frequently lift and/or move up to 25 pounds, and occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds;

• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus;

• The incumbent must be able to perform multiple tasks simultaneously, must be able to work under time and/or deadline pressures.

  Education and Experience:

  Education : The following course(s) of study or class work usually provides the required knowledge skills and abilities to perform the duties of this position:

• High school diploma or GED required.

• CDA (Child Development Associate) certification required.

• A.A. or B.A. in Early Childhood Education/Development is preferred.

  Experience: The following kinds of experience usually provides the required knowledge skills and abilities to perform the duties of this position:

• One year teaching experience in a preschool program preferred.

  Supervision

  Supervision Received:

• This position operates under the direct supervision of a Lead Teacher.

  This position supervises the following position(s):

• None

  Decisions

  Impact of Decisions and Errors Made by Position:

• Decisions and/or errors primarily affect enrolled children and the other employees in the classroom that this position is assigned to.

  Judgment Required to make decisions:

• Requires judgment to solve day-to-day problems, but usually within established procedures, guidelines, and precedents.

  Exception Authority: Not applicable

  Financial Responsibility

• This position has no financial responsibility.

  Personal Contacts

  The incumbent is responsible for the following personal contacts (either in oral or written form) when performing the Duties and Responsibilities of the Position:

• Daily contact and interaction with coworkers, students, and parents;

• Weekly or less frequent interaction with the public;

• Interacts with representatives of other service providers several times a year;

• Interacts with funding agencies to provide information or exchange facts.

  Confidentiality:

• The incumbent occasionally works with confidential data. Effects of disclosure are minimal.

  Working Conditions

  The incumbent is exposed to the following unusual, potentially hazardous or unpleasant working conditions:

• Works in temperature controlled classroom environment.

• Daily exposure to angry or violent parents, children, or volunteers;

• Daily exposure to minor Injuries (not requiring hospitalization);

• Daily exposure to risk of injuries that may result in a permanent disability or death;

• Weekly or more frequent exposure to animal bites or injuries caused by animals;

• Weekly exposure to unpleasant substances, odors, or noises.

• Ability to travel to and from workplace, home visits, and trainings as applicable.

Department

Early Childhood Education

Employment Type

ECE Seasonal - 32 hrs Probation

Compensation

$20.00/hour