Preschool Head Teacher

Mid-Pacific Institute•Honolulu, HI

4d•Onsite

About The Position

The Head Teacher serves as a collaborative leader within Mid-Pacific’s Reggio Emilia-inspired Preschool program. Members of the preschool team are partners, teammates, and collaborators who share responsibility for all aspects of the team process. The quality of children’s learning experiences depends upon consistent, clear communication, the co-construction of perspectives, and a shared commitment to observing, analyzing, and reflecting upon children’s work to inform curriculum development. The Head Teacher fosters a learning environment grounded in the belief that children are capable, competent, and rich in their thinking and experiences. Working in partnership with the Pedagogista, Atelierista, Teachers, and Assistant Teachers, the Head Teacher contributes to a culture of inquiry, collaboration, and reflective practice. This includes maintaining an openness to questioning, sharing hypotheses about classroom work, and engaging in ongoing analysis of documentation—including conversations, observations, digital stills, audio, video, and other artifacts of learning—to frame curriculum and support children's growth. The Head Teacher demonstrates a strong understanding of early childhood development, developmentally appropriate practice, and the core principles of Reggio-inspired education, including relationships, documentation, collaboration, the image of the child, parents as partners, the environment as the third teacher, teacher as researcher, and reflective practice. The Head Teacher remains engaged in ongoing research into best practices in early childhood education, approaches the work with flexibility and openness to possibilities, values the collaborative process, and serves as a researcher of children’s learning to support meaningful curriculum development.

Requirements

Minimum bachelor’s degree in early childhood or elementary education with specialization in early childhood; bachelor’s degree in child development; master’s degree preferable.
Minimum 4 years using the Reggio Emilia approach.
Frequent problem solve, make decisions, supervise and manage students, interpret data, speak, write, organize, plan, clearly communicate, and collaborate with colleagues.
See and hear within normal parameters and possess the ability to move about with little to no difficulty.
Finger dexterity required manipulating objects with fingers rather than with whole hand(s) or arm(s), for example, using a computer keyboard.
Frequent bending.
Frequent reaching for materials, the phone, etc.
Some climbing of stairs (daily); walking up a slight hill (daily).
Sitting in a normal seated position in a chair or on the floor for extended periods of time, reaching by extending hand(s) or arm(s) in any direction.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree preferable.

Responsibilities

Provide day-to-day classroom management and supervision, including maintaining a safe learning environment, supporting children in managing their work and relationships in a positive manner, and ensuring all health and safety procedures are followed.
Oversee the health, safety, and well-being of the children entrusted to the classroom, in collaboration with the Preschool team.
Provide in-person classroom instruction, supervision, and support to students during the school day.
Oversee the Learning Story process, including documentation analysis, writing Learning Stories in collaboration with the Teacher and Pedagogista, facilitating team reflection and discussion, and ensuring completion, revision, labeling, and submission of student documentation.
Work closely with the Pedagogista on the Learning Story for each child and share responsibility with the Teacher in writing Learning Stories.
Ensure team discussion, analysis, and reflection occur when collecting documentation, making decisions on Learning Stories, and identifying what these stories uncover about each child’s learning.
Oversee the documentation process, including organizing daily documentation, classroom blogs, galleries, parent education materials, emails, digital files, documentation panels, and other records of children’s learning.
Analyze and reflect upon the day-to-day work of children based on documentation, including conversations, observations, digital stills, audio, video, and other forms of documentation.
Collaborate with the Atelierista regarding Learning Story layout, visual presentation, documentation aesthetics, and the final review and editing process.
Ensure all final student documents are reviewed, organized, labeled, and uploaded to designated annual storage systems by established deadlines.
Work directly with the Principal and Pedagogista on curriculum development, project work, staff supervision, program development, assessment practices, and participation within the larger school community.
Confer with the Pedagogista on the development of project work and support the project story.
Provide insights and observations to support project development and the overall curriculum program.
Collaborate with members of the Preschool team in the development and implementation of project work and curriculum.
Maintain a constant cycle or state of research into best practice in early childhood.
Participate in team discussion, analysis, and reflection when collecting documentation and making decisions regarding children’s learning.
Maintain daily communication with parents through email, phone calls, formal announcements, meetings, and conferences, while maintaining confidentiality and tailoring communication systems to meet the needs of the community.
Provide timely parent communication by monitoring and responding to incoming emails and phone calls during critical periods of the school day, provided supervision of and interactions with children are not compromised.
Coordinate parent conferences in collaboration with the Teacher, including preparation of conference summaries and follow-up documentation.
Protect the confidentiality of children and families and maintain confidentiality regarding children, families, and program information.
Supervise, support, and collaborate with Teachers and Assistant Teachers to ensure effective classroom operations, curriculum implementation, and documentation practices.
Engage in consistent and effective team communication as a valued part of the collaborative process.
Remain open to the views and opinions expressed by colleagues and foster an atmosphere of respect that values the notion of team.
Participate in collaboration and problem solving, recognizing that different points of view are necessary to construct new understanding and deepen understanding.
Address unresolved conflicts or differences through established communication channels, beginning with the Lead Teacher first and, if necessary, then to the entire team, and ultimately, to the Principal.
Oversee the approval and purchase of classroom materials and supplies.
Frame and set up the learning environment and flow of the room in collaboration with the Preschool team.
Ensure the appropriate, safe, and secure use of assigned equipment and technology resources within the classroom.
Determine the assignment of specific equipment in collaboration with the Pedagogista.
Participate in school events and program activities outside of regular classroom hours, including parent-teacher conferences, open houses, parent education sessions, workshops, performances, and other critical programming needs.
Maintain regular and predictable attendance at work.
Participate in the development of a safe and healthy workplace.
Comply with the instructions given for their own safety and health and that of others, in adhering to safe work procedures.
Take reasonable care to ensure their own safety and health and that of others.
Report any injury, hazard or illness immediately to their Supervisor and Human Resources.
Not place others at risk by any act or omission, not willfully or recklessly interfere with safety equipment.
Act as a role model by demonstrating safe work behaviors.
Identify, assess if necessary, and control hazards within the area of responsibility.
Ensure that equipment/supplies are properly maintained.
Maintain relevant knowledge of safety laws.
Mandatory reporting of sexual abuse to law enforcement or child protective services, and Human Resources.
Develop safe work procedures and ensure adherence to procedures.
Ensure compliance of safety policies and procedures.
Communicate safety issues with employees.
Ensure that employees are provided with information, instruction, training and supervision that they need to work safely.
Ensure that employees are aware of and abide by all relevant safety procedures.
Encourage early reporting of incidents and forward information to Manager and Human Resources immediately.