Long Term Substitute: Child Care Educator

Framingham Public Schools•Framingham, MA

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The Long Term Substitute: Child Care Educator serves as a foundational caregiver and instructional assistant, delivering high-quality care and support to young children. Operating primarily within an inclusionary setting (least restrictive environment), this role is essential to Framingham Public Schools’ day-to-day operations and strategic goal of fostering the development of the "whole child" by supporting early academic, social-emotional, and physical growth needs. The Child Care Educator helps meet general daily classroom goals, supports children with special needs, and protects their physical and emotional health and safety. This commitment aligns with Framingham Public Schools’ high expectations for achievement, equal access to high levels of care, and the promotion of dignity and equity for all children and subgroups within our community.

Requirements

Prior experience working within an early childhood environment required
Ability to read, interpret, and internalize operational documents such as safety rules, memos, and procedure manuals.
Proficiency in expressing ideas clearly and concisely in both written and oral forms with staff, leadership, and families.
Strong interpersonal skills to work seamlessly as an active member of a classroom instructional team.
Ability to establish and maintain highly effective and empathetic working connections with students, parents, staff, and the community.
Proactive and solution-oriented approach to identifying and answering children’s physical and developmental needs.
Demonstrated cultural proficiency and competence in working with children of diverse backgrounds and varying needs in an equitable and inclusive manner.
Ability to execute daily care with complete awareness of district requirements and School Committee policies.
Skill in establishing supportive, stable boundaries with young children without encouraging counterproductive emotional dependency.
Maintain regular, predictable, and punctual attendance; maintain professional composure, patient focus, and modeling behaviors when faced with unpredictable or high-stress early childhood classroom situations.
Must frequently move about and traverse throughout the classroom, early childhood center, playgrounds, and general school building grounds for instructional delivery, emergency drills, and student supervision.
Required to occasionally sit or remain stationary for administrative logs, feeding routines, or floor-based learning activities.
Must be able to see and hear continuously to ensure young student safety, intercept behavioral risks immediately, and monitor active school operations.
Must communicate effectively, clearly, and responsively with children, parents, and colleagues in person, via email, or over the phone.
Frequent use of hands to finger, handle, or feel objects and tools. Must operate a computer for child logs, handle delicate childcare supplies, and use safety tools continuously.
Regular capacity to sit, stand, walk, kneel, crouch, stoop, squat, bend, or twist at the neck and trunk.
Expected to lift and carry classroom supplies up to 20 lbs routinely; occasionally required to lift, transfer, or position young children or assist with wheelchair mobility as required by student needs.
Capacity to remain calm, professional, and patient when exposed to tantrums, volatile behaviors, or high-stakes emotional situations; ability to use positive redirection and early de-escalation techniques under pressure.

Nice To Haves

Current and valid Massachusetts Office of Early Education and Care (EEC) license for a childcare provider is preferred.
Infant/Pediatric CPR and First Aid Certification preferred.
A Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university in Early Education or a related field preferred.
Specialized experience with infants and toddlers is highly preferred.
Bilingual proficiency in Spanish and/or Portuguese is preferred.

Responsibilities

Assists children with daily physical routines, including putting on and taking off outerwear, moving safely from room to room, and navigating classroom spaces.
Delivers necessary physical care throughout the workday, including the regular feeding, changing, and toileting of children based on individual developmental and hygiene needs.
Supports and guides students with special needs, affirming their unique abilities while maximizing their access to inclusionary classroom environments.
Helps lift or safely position young children to provide baseline early childhood services.
Facilitates and coordinates structured, developmentally appropriate play activities and early learning milestones in the daycare room under teacher direction.
Integrates foundational social-emotional frameworks into play routines to foster a safe, positive, and trauma-informed room culture.
Assists the certified teacher with general daily classroom duties, materials preparation, and activity setups to keep the space physically and academically accessible.
Establishes clear, encouraging, and supportive relationships with children that value their identity and promote dignity across all peer connections.
Ensures the absolute safety, continuous visibility, and physical protection of children across all environments.
Maintains continuous visual and auditory surveillance of students during indoor instruction, outdoor recess blocks, fire drills, and special activities.
Documents and monitors daily student milestones, safety changes, or incident reports in strict compliance with state regulations and district policies.
Follows precise medical, health, sanitization, and clean-space safety guidelines to prevent environmental hazards or pathogen exposures.
Coordinates closely with the classroom teacher, program coordinator, and early childhood team members to streamline student care plans.
Provides helpful, clear, and prompt observations regarding student progress or daily updates to parents and guardians during student drop-off/pick-up transitions.
Collaborates with building administration to implement center-wide policies that enrich early childhood education systems.
Other duties as assigned.