Severe Needs Para Educator - Heritage Elementary School

Cherry Creek

About The Position

Assist students with severe special education needs under the direction of licensed special education staff. Support individuals and small groups with curriculum, skill development, behavior strategies, and assignment completion. Prepare instructional materials, monitor student progress, and maintain achievement records. Provide technical physical care and help ensure a clean, safe, and hygienic environment. In remote learning settings, assist students with technology access, curriculum reinforcement, executive functioning strategies, skill generalization, and coursework completion. Assignments may include Autism, BD, Early Childhood Education, Homebound (FAPE), ILC, SED, and Transition Programming. The position has no direct supervisory responsibilities. Work location may change to meet organizational needs. The work occurs indoors and outdoors, typically at a moderate noise level, and may include exposure to outdoor weather conditions.

Requirements

High School Equivalency (HSE) diploma.
Criminal background check and fingerprinting required.
No professional work experience required.
For Title I assignments, meet one of the following: complete at least two years of study at an institution of higher education; obtain an associate’s or higher degree; or meet a rigorous quality standard and demonstrate relevant instructional knowledge and ability through a formal state or local academic assessment.
For staff in Autism, Behaviorally Disordered, or ILC assignments, complete District-provided Crisis Prevention Intervention training biennially.
Complete District-provided medication administration training as needed.
Basic knowledge of typical office equipment, including telephones, copiers, fax machines, and email.
Basic knowledge of Microsoft Office.
Intermediate verbal and written communication skills, interpersonal relations skills, and organizational skills.
Ability to work alone and with others; modify curriculum appropriately; implement behavior modification techniques; diffuse and manage volatile and stressful situations; maintain confidentiality; and work one-on-one and in small groups with students.
For DHH program assignments, ability to understand the impacts of hearing loss on learning and social interaction.
For Homebound program assignments, ability to set appropriate boundaries and build appropriate relationships while working in students’ homes with families and other student healthcare providers, and to communicate appropriately with families.

Nice To Haves

Experience working in the public sector, specifically public education.
Experience working directly with people from diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Racially conscious and culturally competent, with the skill, will, capacity, and knowledge to commit to a culture of continuous improvement.
Associate’s degree.
Experience working with special needs children in a paid program or licensed special education teaching experience.
Experience working with students with autism, behavior challenges, medically fragile conditions, hearing or vision loss, or intellectual disabilities.
CPR and First Aid certification.

Responsibilities

Assist students with classroom activities and adapt curriculum to individual needs; deliver curriculum to individuals and small groups to support skill generalization.
Implement student accommodations, supports, modifications, procedures, and programming in Individual Education Plans (IEPs); maintain progress and behavior records with licensed staff and share observations with the IEP team.
Assist licensed special education staff with preparing materials, administering tests, attendance, paperwork, documentation, and classroom events such as fire drills.
Monitor students and reinforce appropriate behavior; assist with verbal de-escalation and non-violent crisis interventions to reduce risks of self-harm and harm to others.
Support students’ social interaction and communication with peers, including general education peers.
Provide assigned technical physical care, which may include toileting, grooming, cleaning ventilation devices, feeding, G-tube care, positioning, and range-of-motion support. Follow medication delivery orders after training and as delegated by a registered school nurse.
In online or remote settings, assist individuals and small groups with synchronous or asynchronous classroom activities and curriculum accommodations or modifications; in the DHH program, support language, vocabulary, reading, and writing using sign language when needed.
Prepare at-home assignments and help students complete assigned work.
Maintain student progress and behavior records in remote settings and report observations to licensed staff and the IEP team.
Help students troubleshoot technology issues.
Perform other duties as assigned or requested.