Head Teacher

The Educational Alliance Inc.•New York, NY

About The Position

The 14th Street Y is a vibrant Jewish community center located in Downtown Manhattan. Each year, tens of thousands of New Yorkers of all ages, races, and ethnicities come to 14Y as members, visitors, or partners to experience our high quality and varied programs centered around arts and culture, early childhood education, summer camps, fitness and aquatics, Jewish life, and older adult services. Job Purpose: Working within inspired and dynamic teams, our teachers are helping to build a vision for progressive education in the East Village. Inspired by the preschools of Reggio Emilia, we believe that all children learn through inquiry, exploration, and play in the context of strong relationships and a sense of belonging. Our teachers create responsive, safe, joyful, and nurturing learning environments for children that foster inquiry, exploration, learning & reflection; collaborate with co-teachers to plan an emergent curriculum based on observations of children’s interests and development; document children’s learning through photographs, written learning narratives, anecdotes, panels, and mini-stories; facilitate communication and collaboration between the family and the preschool. Scope of Influence: Lead teaching team in documentation, reflection, and planning process to devise emergent curriculum informed by children’s interests, questions, theories, and prior knowledge. Facilitate virtual learning and individualized outreach to families during periods of school closure. Work with a diverse community. Build relationships with families and communicate about children’s learning and development in person and through documentation. Partner with the teaching staff and administration in the overall philosophy and direction of the preschool.

Requirements

MA in Early Childhood/ Elementary Education | New York State N-6 or PreK-6 certification or study plan
Excellent written communication skills, including the ability to craft narrative observations and assessments, mini-stories, and written reflections, and communicate with families and colleagues regularly via email
Ability to use Outlook, Microsoft Office Suite, Zoom, and other online learning platforms as required
Minimum 3 years of professional teaching experience in an early childhood setting preferred
Strong oral communication with children, families, and colleagues

Responsibilities

Planning, Preparation + Curriculum Development Co-constructing curriculum based on children’s interests, questions, and development
Documenting, reflecting, and planning from observations
Participating in weekly planning meetings with the teaching team
Meeting the needs of all children
Planning and creating a classroom environment with inquiry, exploration, learning, and respect in mind
Nurturing children’s home languages through curated books, materials, and the physical environment
Creating a warm and inclusive environment where children and families feel welcome
Organizing physical space and selection of materials in a way that is inviting and accessible to children
Creating visual evidence of the narratives and curriculum occurring in your classroom
Adhering to DOH regulation per Article 47
Develop schedules and processes to ensure that work is complete in a timely fashion by teaching team.
Lead regular documentation, reflection, and planning meetings with teaching team.
Provide feedback, coaching, and support to Assistant Teachers as necessary.
Speaking and listening to children with respect and mindfulness
Supervising the whole group, while giving individual attention
Managing classroom procedures including transitions, routines, and small groups
Engage students in exploration and ongoing project work
Scaffolding children through conflict and problem solving
Building respectful and reciprocal relationships with families
Communicating consistently with families
Documenting children’s learning, development, and progress through mini-stories, written narratives, reflections, and observations.
Maintain a documentation portfolio for each child and complete assessment checkpoints throughout the year.
Maintaining collaborative and professional relationships with colleagues
Mentoring Assistant teachers
Participating in professional development meetings
Showing professionalism including integrity, ethical conduct, and decision making
The candidate will be reflective, ask questions, be willing to take risks and make mistakes
Arrive and depart according to daily schedule unless otherwise approved by the Director