Early Childhood Assistant Teacher

Position/Title: Early Childhood Preschool Assistant Teacher (84% FTE)

Appointment: School Year 2024/2025

Reports To: Associate Director of Early Childhood-Grade 2

Laurel School seeks talented faculty and staff who will put our students first and strive to make a difference in their lives. We seek to attract culturally and academically diverse faculty and staff who thrive on being engaged participants in our community and are committed to anti-racist education and developing young women as authentic learners and leaders. The most successful candidates are solutions-driven, are willing to listen to learn, embrace iteration and practice as a necessary part of the product, see opportunities before problems, and thrive in a fast-paced, forward-thinking educational environment. Laurel lives our mission: to inspire each girl (and small boy) to fulfill her/his promise and to better the world.

Position Summary

The assistant teacher is responsible for helping the lead teacher in all aspects of running the classroom. S/he will assist and co-develop engaging, thoughtful, and developmentally appropriate lessons with the lead teacher. S/he will provide an Early Childhood setting that is nurturing, cognitively rich, positive, and cross-culturally sensitive. S/he will set a tone in which childrens intellectual, developmental, and affective needs are met in his/her classroom.

Duties and responsibilities include:

• Guide children in exploration and discovery
• Commitment to the Conscious Discipline philosophy
• Coach children to develop curiosity, persistence, creativity, problem-solving, confidence and resilience
• Encourage children to move toward independence and develop self-care
• Work with children individually and in groups
• Assist with assessing the learning and development of each child continually
• Participate as a member of the entire Early Childhood team and collaborate with colleagues school-wide
• Attend divisional and all-school meetings and events as needed and supporting initiatives.
• Assist with clear communications with families to achieve common goals
• Supervision of children during lunch and dismissal as assigned
• High comfort level educating and being with children in the outdoors with the ability to work in inclement weather and across all types of terrains
• Taking on the duties of the lead teacher when the lead is absent
• Possibility of teaching an afternoon special class
• Assistants may support other classrooms when necessary
• Other duties as assigned

Division of Workload

• Assistant teachers are encouraged to assist with newsletters, coordinating snack menus, report writing, and documenting the student experience on Seesaw.
• Assistant teachers will not be independently responsible for any of these tasks. The Lead Teachers should be responsible for the majority of direct instruction, writing of reports and planning.
• Each teaching team will work together with the help of the Associate Director of EC-2 to ensure the division of duties feels equitable.

The successful candidate must have a bachelor’s degree at a minimum, preferably in Early Childhood Education. S/he must have a positive attitude, excellent written and verbal skills, solid organizational skills and demonstrate success in a work-setting requiring collaboration, cooperation, and collegiality. The candidate must possess or acquire and maintain a State of Ohio issued teaching certificate. The school welcomes the opportunity to continue to diversify our faculty.

Salary

Laurel offers competitive compensation and a comprehensive benefits package.

To Apply

Please see www.laurelschool.org for further information and a job application.

Work Environment

Laurel School is a dynamic, forward-thinking, K-12 girls’ school with a co-ed Early Childhood division, where every child is well known. As a Facing History and Ourselves School, Laurel is fully committed to equity and inclusion.

Laurel teachers are committed to:

• The study of research on girls’ education and integration of this knowledge into classroom practice
• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
• Anti-racist, multicultural education
• The academic and social development of girls
• Working with each girl to fulfill the school’s mission
• The creation of an inclusive classroom community
• The integration of community-based learning projects at the classroom level and as a part of the whole school community
• Involving parents as partners in the educational process
• Outdoor education and sustainability
• Flexibility and openness to new ideas

Laurel enjoys an outstanding local and national reputation and is home to the Laurel Center for Research on Girls. In a highly competitive school landscape, Laurel is fortunate to be a school of choice in Cleveland. Our emphasis on the whole child and our legacy of excellence in the teaching of girls set us apart. Located in Shaker Heights, OH (15 minutes from downtown Cleveland) with an additional rural campus 17 minutes away, the school has a suburban/rural advantage. The work environment is noted for being family-friendly and flexible. The feeling in the school is joyous, collaborative and innovative. Our curricular philosophy emphasizes community-based, interdisciplinary and experiential learning. Collaboration and reflective practice are key to pedagogy at Laurel.

The school is fully committed to a culturally diverse faculty and student body.

Laurel School is dedicated to providing equal employment opportunities to all personnel and applicants for employment without regard to race; color; religion; sex; gender identity; national origin; handicap or disability; sexual orientation; or status as a veteran, Vietnam era, or special disabled veteran.