We Bloom Playschool is currently hiring an Assistant Teacher to join our team working with toddlers aged 2-2.5 years old starting in September (potential for August hours). This is a part-time position, roughly 30 hours a week. We are a new, home-based community playschool located in the Woodlawn neighborhood.
About Our School:
We Bloom Playschool's approach to learning is a combination of philosophies that align with our values. We are most closely inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach. Our mission is to cultivate an inclusive and play-based in-home learning community for children. We are dedicated to a cohort-model to build relationships and trust between teachers, children, and families that continues to grow over time. Our program centers around respect, collaboration, community, art, and the environment. We're passionate about creating an environment that is developmentally appropriate and encourages each child to explore at a pace that feels right for them. We provide a safe space for children to question and learn about who they are and the world around them.
Educators that inspire us: Janet Lansbury, Magda Gerber, Chazz Lewis, Teacher Tom, Britt Hawthorne and more.
Our playschool hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30pm and extended day is 3:30pm-5pm for a small group of children. The Assistant Teacher will be scheduled M-F from 10:30am to 3:45pm with one longer day ending at 5:30pm (some flexibility on the day of the week the long day happens), for a total of about 28 hours/week. There will also be opportunities to pick up extra hours if another staff member is sick or taking time off.
About You:
We are looking for an Assistant Teacher that is passionate about caring for young children, including day to day care and emotional support. We also are looking for someone that has interests of their own that they can bring into the classroom and are excited to share with our community.
Responsibilities:
- Help facilitate play opportunities based on children’s interests and needs
- Help with diapering, toilet learning, and other caregiving activities in respectful and developmentally appropriate ways
- Help support Teachers and engage with children throughout the day, including outdoor time, process art, activity invitations, and exploration of classroom and materials
- Help manage classroom routines and transitions
- Help with simple vegetarian cooking
- Collaborate and communicate well with other staff
- An ability to embrace and celebrate families and children from diverse backgrounds
- Willing to be outdoors for periods of time during the school year rain or shine
- Clean up of the classroom throughout the day, including sterilizing toys and common spaces
Our goal is to have the children in our program stay with us from infancy to when they start kindergarten (we're starting with a slightly older group this year). And because of that it's also our goal to have staff want to stay long term as well. We'd love it if whoever we hire can agree to stay at least one year (and hopefully more!). It's also important that whoever takes this position is supportive of an inclusive, play-based environment. That they are patient, kind, and calm. They see children as capable and deserving of respect. They have a desire to learn more about anti-bias education. And all in all really enjoy this work and understand how vital it is to any community.
Applicants must have the following qualifications:
- Ideally at least 1 year experience working with young children in a preschool or childcare setting
- Working knowledge of childhood development principles and best practices
- Comfortable communicating with parents and other staff in English, both written and verbal, although multilingual abilities are also valued and appreciated.
- Enrolled in the Central Background Registry (this requirement must be done before the start date. More information can be found here: https://www.oregon.gov/delc/providers/pages/cbr.aspx#WhoNeedsToEnroll)
- Have a current CPR & First Aid certification
- Food Handlers Card
- Training on Recognizing and Reporting Child Abuse & Neglect, Childcare Health and Safety, Infant Safe Sleep, Foundations for Learning, and Preventing Illness
- Willing to participate yearly in at least 15 clock hours of training related to child care.
- Open to learning and applying methods and philosophies behind We Bloom Playschool
- We are a pro-vaccination community. All staff, parents, and eligible children are fully vaccinated for COVID-19
Compensation
- $18-21/hour DOE
- 40 hours paid sick time
- Paid birthday off
- Meals and snacks
- Paid professional development hours
- Professional development assistance
- Paid holiday breaks/school closures (one week for summer, one week for spring, two weeks for winter, and most federal holidays)
The founder and one of the Teachers at We Bloom has been in education for thirteen years and understands burnout in this field is real. It's important that teachers feel heard, respected, and taken care of. We're committed to supporting our staff as best we can and truly value them as members of our community at We Bloom Playschool.
We Bloom is committed to inclusion within our community. We strongly encourage applications from people of color, LGBTQ candidates or candidates from communities that are historically underrepresented in independent schools.
Application Questions:
(Can include in a cover letter or upload as a separate document on the indeed application)
- Why do you want to work with young children?
- How flexible is your current schedule?
- Do you have any hobbies and passions you'd like to bring into the classroom (art, gardening, yoga, singing, etc)
- What about We Blooms mission/philosophy made you want to apply for this position?
Job Type: Part-time
Pay: $18.00 - $21.00 per hour
Expected hours: 30 per week
Benefits:
- Paid time off
- Professional development assistance
Schedule:
Work Location: In person