Classroom Manager, Pre-K

Patagonia • Ventura, IA

1d • $29 - $34 • Onsite

About The Position

Great Pacific Child Development Center was founded in 1983 by Malinda Chouinard and Jennifer Ridgeway to provide childcare to employees of Patagonia. What the company has learned over the decades about children, childcare, and supporting working families is chronicled in the book: Family Business and in a series of videos (https://www.patagonia.com/family-business/). Currently, Patagonia provides on-site childcare for employees in three locations: Ventura, CA Main Campus, Ventura, CA Brooks Campus, and in Reno, NV at the Distribution Center. Patagonia’s mission and values are put into practice every day throughout our child development centers. A classroom manager is responsible for all aspects of teaching and overall management of the classroom. Classrooms are typically structured with children from birth to two years, or two to three and a half years or three and a half years to kindergarten. Responsibilities include: physical caregiving, child development assessments, implementation of age-appropriate, individualized curriculum, facilitating supportive relationships with children, parents, and colleagues, mentoring and managing 2-3 people on the classroom teaching team and ensuring constant communication flow between administration, the teaching team and parents. What You’ll Do The responsibilities of this position will include, but are not limited to the following: Primary Caregiving At our Child Development Centers, we understand the importance of a meaningful bond between child and caregiver. These relationships are foundational to our program, and they are an integral piece of high-quality group care. A primary caregiver is a role within the classroom that is specific to classroom managers and primary teachers. Typically, a primary caregiver will adhere to a ratio of 1:3/4 for infants, 1:6/7 with preschoolers, and 1:8/9 with pre-kindergarten. Kids Club does not assign primaries. Assign the children in your care to a primary caregiver. Track the development of your primary children, managing their classroom transitions, and coordinate their integration hours. If a new family is joining the Child Development Center, primary caregivers are responsible for connecting with the family to review our program and practices. Preschool and Pre-Kindergarten primary caregivers will host a meeting onsite, and infant primary caregivers will conduct a home visit. Complete routine assessments of your primary children’s development including learning stories, facilitate parent input using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire and share information during regularly scheduled parent-teacher conferences. If needed, facilitate the referral process and individualized interventions with the help of the program manager to make sure each child reaches their developmental potential Classroom Management and Practices The learning that takes place at our Child Development Centers extends beyond the four walls of the classroom. Our children are immersed in emergent curriculum and outdoor exploration that fosters curiosity, joy, and self-expression. Ensure a high-quality, developmentally appropriate classroom exists in accordance with Patagonia’s policies/philosophy and Department of Social Services child care licensing rules and regulations as outlined by the state. Co-create and organize a stimulating and developmentally appropriate learning environment both inside and outside Ensure visual supervision and child safety at all times. Design emergent curriculum that meets the needs of the individual learning style of the children in your care. Form relationships with families, children, and co-teachers that are respectful of individual differences and culture, family styles and cultural/socioeconomic diversity. Offer guidance and direction to support the professional development of your teaching team. Ensure a structured routine that allows for scheduled meal and rest breaks for the teaching team and maintains a flexible yet consistent daily schedule and routine for the children. Provide professional guidance for your team members, including goal setting and performance reviews. Communication Skills The staff at the Child Development Centers are responsible for building meaningful relationships with children, families, and their coworkers. We believe transparency, professionalism, and empathy are critical in sustaining these bonds. Foster a safe, inclusive environment for children, parents, and teachers. Create an environment that embraces open communication and trust between staff to ensure a high-quality environment for children and families. Communicate with children using developmentally appropriate language . Treat each child with dignity and respect. Guide children in becoming responsible integral members of the group and community. Establish regular communication with parents about special moments that happen throughout the day, or specific issues as they occur on a day-to-day basis. Partner with parents to create an easy transition into the classroom. Provide Early Childhood/community resources and share information through a variety of mediums: documentation boards, newsletters, Educa, and emails. Serve as the liaison between the classroom, program manager and administrative team to make sure families experience impeccable customer service. Administrative Functions The team at the Child Development Centers work collaboratively and cross-functionally to provide the highest quality of group care. Leaders in the Family Services Department will look to the staff in the classrooms to support decision-making, team-building, and licensing requirements. Ensure the completion of classroom administrative responsibilities in a timely manner such as: managing child files, tracking attendance on Procare, communicating changes to enrollment projections, maintaining daily staff: child ratios, and manage and document emergency practice drills. Engage in manager trainings and initiatives. Evaluate the supply and material needs of classroom and track expenses against the annual classroom budget. Lead the onboarding and training of teachers with the support of administration. Plan and lead team meetings. Act with urgency and respond thoughtfully to issues or concerns. Physical Requirements The educators at the Child Development Centers are responsible for the health and safety of their students as well as hands-on caregiving. Please review the physical requirements to ensure you are qualified to perform all job duties and that any accommodation issues you have could be addressed. Observe and respond to children’s needs, emergencies and/or conflicts that might occur during the day. Kneel down to maintain eye contact at child’s level. Sit on the floor to engage with your students. Respond to a child’s first aid needs which may include cuts, bruises, and bodily fluids. Lift 1-35 pounds from the floor to a waist-high table, or communicate effectively with your team to get the needs of the child met. Who You Are Our staff at the Child Development Centers are a diverse group of educators who bring authenticity, experience, and passion to their job every day. High school graduate. Passionate about child development and supporting our company mission to save our home planet. Excellent customer service skills in person, via email, and on the phone. Comfortable with team-based work structure; ability to demonstrate flexibility on the job. Demonstrates initiative, is conscientious and provides complete follow-through on areas of responsibility. Expert in your classroom age-group and best practices in early childhood. Dedicated to life-long learning and the betterment of the early childhood education.

Requirements

• High school graduate.
• Passionate about child development and supporting our company mission to save our home planet.
• Excellent customer service skills in person, via email, and on the phone.
• Comfortable with team-based work structure; ability to demonstrate flexibility on the job.
• Demonstrates initiative, is conscientious and provides complete follow-through on areas of responsibility.
• Expert in your classroom age-group and best practices in early childhood.
• Dedicated to life-long learning and the betterment of the early childhood education.
• Five years’ experience working with young children (At least 150 hours working/volunteering with children within the last 6 months).
• Fifteen (15) units in Early Childhood Education (Growth and Development, Child-Family & Community, Administration in ECE, and two Program/Curriculum courses). If you are working in an infant classroom, you must have three (3) infant/toddler units. If you are working in a school age classroom, you must have three (3) school age units.
• Working knowledge of personal computers with experience in the use of such programs as Word, Excel, Microsoft Teams and Outlook.
• Successful completion of the fingerprinting process and/or successful transfer of fingerprints from another program. It is a job requirement to have a successful criminal background check as well as clearance from either Live Scan in CA or obtaining a Sheriffs Card in NV to meet State childcare licensing requirements. If you have, or later obtain an exemption from Licensing, please know that you may still not qualify for employment as Patagonia has its own rigorous internal standards and review process given the nature of the work with children.
• Successful completion of the hiring packet.

Nice To Haves

• AA or BA in ECE or related field
• Understanding of Family Business, Developmentally Appropriate Practice, Learning Stories, Outdoor Classroom, Anti Bias Education, Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE), Educa, and Pyramid Model.

Responsibilities

• Assign the children in your care to a primary caregiver.
• Track the development of your primary children, managing their classroom transitions, and coordinate their integration hours.
• If a new family is joining the Child Development Center, primary caregivers are responsible for connecting with the family to review our program and practices.
• Complete routine assessments of your primary children’s development including learning stories, facilitate parent input using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire and share information during regularly scheduled parent-teacher conferences.
• Ensure a high-quality, developmentally appropriate classroom exists in accordance with Patagonia’s policies/philosophy and Department of Social Services child care licensing rules and regulations as outlined by the state.
• Co-create and organize a stimulating and developmentally appropriate learning environment both inside and outside
• Ensure visual supervision and child safety at all times.
• Design emergent curriculum that meets the needs of the individual learning style of the children in your care.
• Form relationships with families, children, and co-teachers that are respectful of individual differences and culture, family styles and cultural/socioeconomic diversity.
• Offer guidance and direction to support the professional development of your teaching team.
• Ensure a structured routine that allows for scheduled meal and rest breaks for the teaching team and maintains a flexible yet consistent daily schedule and routine for the children.
• Provide professional guidance for your team members, including goal setting and performance reviews.
• Foster a safe, inclusive environment for children, parents, and teachers.
• Create an environment that embraces open communication and trust between staff to ensure a high-quality environment for children and families.
• Communicate with children using developmentally appropriate language .
• Treat each child with dignity and respect.
• Guide children in becoming responsible integral members of the group and community.
• Establish regular communication with parents about special moments that happen throughout the day, or specific issues as they occur on a day-to-day basis.
• Partner with parents to create an easy transition into the classroom.
• Provide Early Childhood/community resources and share information through a variety of mediums: documentation boards, newsletters, Educa, and emails.
• Serve as the liaison between the classroom, program manager and administrative team to make sure families experience impeccable customer service.
• Ensure the completion of classroom administrative responsibilities in a timely manner such as: managing child files, tracking attendance on Procare, communicating changes to enrollment projections, maintaining daily staff: child ratios, and manage and document emergency practice drills.
• Engage in manager trainings and initiatives.
• Evaluate the supply and material needs of classroom and track expenses against the annual classroom budget.
• Lead the onboarding and training of teachers with the support of administration.
• Plan and lead team meetings.
• Act with urgency and respond thoughtfully to issues or concerns.
• Observe and respond to children’s needs, emergencies and/or conflicts that might occur during the day.
• Kneel down to maintain eye contact at child’s level.
• Sit on the floor to engage with your students.
• Respond to a child’s first aid needs which may include cuts, bruises, and bodily fluids.
• Lift 1-35 pounds from the floor to a waist-high table, or communicate effectively with your team to get the needs of the child met.

Benefits

• Patagonia offers a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, retirement and leave of absence plans. Benefit plans may vary slightly depending on the nature of your employment.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Education Level: High school or GED