Primary Teacher - Early Learning

About The Centers

The Centers fights for equity by healing, teaching, and inspiring individuals and families to reach their full potential. We provide health, family, and workforce services at 11 locations throughout Greater Cleveland, creating life-changing solutions for people to lead healthier and more successful lives.

Our Early Learning Centers and programs provides high-quality care for children during the critical first 2,000 days of life by operating seven high-quality early learning centers, serving children birth through five years old, in Cleveland and the inner-ring suburbs. Because of our high standards, all sites achieved a 5-Star rating on the Step-Up-To-Quality Rating and been recognized and selected to be part of Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) and PRE4CLE.

We strive to be an equitable, anti-racist, and service-oriented workplace that pioneers and co-creates solutions while fostering an inclusive community where our team members thrive.

Wellbeing and Benefits

Providing quality benefits to our staff is important to us. Just as important is our staff’s well-being. That’s why we offer a number of choices from medical to dental to vision plans to meet the different needs of our staff.

Job Summary: 

Designs, develops, and implements developmentally appropriate programs and lesson plans for preschoolers in their care. Will utilize High Scope approaches to develop content and employ multiple teaching strategies to accommodate learning differences such as, Individual Education Plans (IEP).

Job Qualifications: 

• Early childhood or related field associate degree required. Bachelors in early childhood education or related preferred.
• Minimum of four years’ experience in a classroom setting required; early childhood focus preferred.
• Within three years of hire, must obtain Early Childhood Education or a related field bachelor's degree.
• The Centers Early Learning Supervisor Certificate required.
• CPR/First Aid, Communicable Disease, Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention within 90 days of hire (training provided by The Centers).
• Occasional evening hours may be required.
• No record of child abuse or moral turpitude as determined by background check based on fingerprints.

Essential Job Duties & Responsibilities: 

• Supervision of and Interaction with Children
•  Assumes responsibility for the assigned children in the Teacher’s classroom; meets the social, emotional, physical and cognitive developmental needs of children in routine areas of their care and throughout their planned daily schedule of activities.
• Cultivates optimal growth and development through activities while working with children during indoor and outdoor settings daily, year-round activities.
•  Ensures a high level of teacher-child interaction; initiates and nurtures personalized individual relationships with each child that promote self-esteem.
•  Helps individual children recognize and use acceptable behavior; demonstrates empathy for misbehavior and responds professionally; sets reasonable limits for children; uses incidents of misbehavior to teach children positive behavior, social awareness, social interaction skills, verbal skills, etc.
•  Will always supervise children while in care custody and control.
•  Delivers daily meals, materials, and equipment to classroom, as needed.
• Provide coverage for classroom groups or other classrooms during absence of teachers inside or outside of your site, as requested by supervisor.
•  Completes accurate and timely paperwork related to children in classroom; daily lesson plans, attendance records, meal counts, heights and weights, classroom assessment observations, while entering the data into the appropriate electronic records systems.
•  Will utilize screening and assessment data to complete daily lesson plans to individualize the child’s developmental needs and abilities while working with the child’s interests.
• Daily lesson plans will focus on teaching through the child’s interests while utilizing the CLASS teaching techniques.
•  May be asked to assist in Individual Education Plans (IEP) meetings to help support the parents, child, and Special Services Department.
• Supervise children to and from bus pick-up and drop-off to the early learning center, as needed.
• Fosters the creation of an exciting and fun learning environment based on program requirements, the High Scope Curriculum and individual assessment data.
• Completes individual assessments and screenings for children in their care; formulates plans to support children with special needs.
• Models, engages and promotes flexible and cooperative team teaching with co-workers, volunteers, parents, and student teachers.
•  Cultivates optimal growth and development through activities in both the indoor and outdoor environment, making adjustments to meet the changing needs and interests of individual children and groups of children, ultimately encouraging exploration and learning; adjusts the environment to support various concepts being taught or for the purpose of ensuring certain successful outcomes for children; rotates materials and equipment as needs and children’s interest change.
• Ensures their classroom will provide a learning environment, daily routine and adult-child interactions that reaches a level 4 or higher in the High Scopes Program Quality Assessment tool (PQA).
• Implements the Conscious Discipline approach in classroom settings with all children.
• Participates in the implementation and evaluation of all activities in all content areas over the course of a year.
• Maximizes contribution of nutritional services to children’s development and socialization by ensuring food is not used as punishment or reward, and that each child is encouraged, but not forced, to eat or taste food.
• Takes point of service meal counts at all meals/snacks; assists with the serving and clean-up of meal service.
• Ensures children who continue to eat, while the classroom moves on to different parts of the routine, are always within vision of staff in the classroom.
• Develops caring, meaningful, and professional relationships with parents while discouraging personal involvement.
• Communicates respectfully and professionally with all parents/caregivers upon pick-up and drop-off times to the classroom.
• All child-related concerns and/or questions will be discussed with the supervisor.
• Address serious concerns immediately with their supervisor prior to speaking with the parent.
• Conducts two home visits and two parent teacher conferences per year for assigned group; provide guidance to co-workers as they prepare to do the same.
• Works cooperatively with students and volunteers, assisting them with assigned responsibilities and program activities.
• Leads scheduling and coordination of activities, with the input of the teaching team, develops and implements plans that reflect the changing needs of children, including part-time enrollment, second shift lunch non-napping children, tooth-brushing and other appropriate self-care routines.
• Oversees and maintains timely and accurate classroom records including attendance, food service tallies, and evidence of lesson planning; prepares anecdotal reports on a weekly basis and enters information into the electronic records systems.
• Oversees the maintenance of individualized children records including intake information, screening, health records, social service contacts, individual educational service plans, activity records, and transition documents.
• Ensures the classroom is following all policies and procedures from all regulatory bodies, including internal policies and procedures.
• Ensures outdoor equipment is safe and kept in good condition.
• Inventories classroom supplies and requests new supplies as needed.
• Be a resource to new employees placed at your location, especially in your classroom as they become accustomed to the room, operations, and practices of our agency.
• Participates in in-service training, seminars, training sessions, practice based coaching sessions, formal college course work, and meetings outside the agency as a method of gaining more experience and knowledge.
• Within three years of hire, complete professional development plan to obtain Early Childhood Education or related field bachelor's degree.

Core Competencies: 

• Interpersonal Skills: The ability to build and maintain healthy relationships that are mutually beneficial, and the capacity for interdependence and collaboration.
• Client Focus: Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers. Establishes and maintains effective relationships with families and children and gains their trust and respect.
• Continuous Learning: Has desire and drive to acquire knowledge and skills necessary to perform job more effectively.
• Team Building: The ability to provide direction and guidance to an individual or a group of people and to encourage cooperation between team members in order to attain an objective. Discusses strategic goals, mission, and vision with the team members and the strategic role they play.
• Resilience and Adaptable: Demonstrates high level of tolerance for stress; copes well with ambiguity or setbacks; receptive and adaptive to work-related changes.
• Time Management: Uses time effectively and efficiently; values time; concentrates efforts on the more important priorities.
• Detail Oriented: The ability to process detailed information effectively and consistently. Understands and appropriately applies principles, procedures, requirements, regulations, and policies.
• Functional/Technical Skills: Has the functional and technical knowledge and skills to do the job at a high level of accomplishment.

The Centers is an Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.