Outdoor Prekindergarten Lead Teacher

Title: Outdoor Prekindergarten Lead Teacher (100% FTE)

Appointment: School Year 2024/2025

Reports to: Director of Early Childhood to Grade 5 and Associate Director of Butler 3-5

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 the development of 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 to fulfill her promise and to better the world.

Position Summary

The Outdoor Prekindergarten program offers a unique teaching experience. Fourteen 4-5-year-old children spend each day in the forest of our 150-acre Butler Campus. A yurt is available when weather conditions require an indoor space. We provide an emergent curriculum that aims to foster a sense of wonder, to guide rather than compel, and to encourage lines of inquiry developed by the children. The teaching style is inquiry-based. An Outdoor Pre-Primary co-teacher shares in all aspects of running the program.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Guide children in exploration and discovery
• Model joy and respect for the natural world
• Coach children to develop curiosity, persistence, creativity, problem-solving, confidence and resilience
• Encourage children to make choices independently and to listen to their body signals
• Work with children individually and in groups
• Assess learning of each child continually
• Participate as a member of the Early Childhood team and collaborate with colleagues school-wide
• Attend divisional and all-school meetings and events as needed
• Ensure the health, safety and well-being of students through site-surveys and frequent check-ins with students
• Maintain clear communications with families to achieve common goals
• Supervise children during lunch and dismissal as assigned
• Support divisional and school-wide initiatives
• Other duties as assigned

Division of Workload

• Lead Teacher is responsible for the majority of direct instruction, writing of reports, and planning.
• 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 Outdoor Prekindergarten team will work together with the support of the Associate Director of EC-2 and/or the Associate Director of Butler to ensure the division of duties is equitable.

The ideal candidate would be an avid outdoor enthusiast who approaches each day with a sense of joy and wonder about the natural world. She or he must have a college degree, preferably in Early Childhood Education, and have 3 – 5 years of Early Childhood classroom experience. A positive attitude, excellent written and verbal communication skills and demonstrated success in a work setting requiring collaboration, cooperation and collegiality are essential. The candidate must acquire and maintain a State of Ohio issued teaching certificate. The ability to lead one or more co-curricular activity, or to coach a sport, is desirable. 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.