Severe Needs Para Educator - Smoky Hill High School

Cherry Creek Schools•Aurora, CO

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 is subject to change to meet organizational requirements. The role works both indoors and outdoors, typically with moderate noise, and involves medium work strength, prolonged standing and walking, frequent bending, reaching, climbing, lifting, pulling and/or pushing, squatting, overhead work, eye/hand coordination, visual concentration, and possible exposure to outdoor weather conditions.

Requirements

High School Equivalency (HSE) diploma.
Criminal background check and fingerprinting are required.
No professional work experience is required.
For Title I assignments, meet one of these criteria: 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.
Complete mandatory biennial Crisis Prevention Intervention training provided by the District when working in an Autism, Behaviorally Disordered, or ILC assignment.
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.
Intermediate interpersonal relations skills.
Intermediate organizational skills.
Ability to work alone and with others.
Ability to appropriately modify curriculum and implement behavior modification techniques.
Ability to diffuse and manage volatile and stressful situations.
Ability to maintain confidentiality in all aspects of the job.
Ability to 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 assignments, ability to establish appropriate boundaries and relationships and communicate appropriately with families and other student healthcare providers while working in students’ homes.
Ability to perform medium-strength work, including lifting or carrying up to 50 pounds, and meet the listed physical demands of the position.

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 children with special needs 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, adapting curriculum to individual needs and supporting individuals and small groups to promote skill generalization.
Implement student accommodations, supports, modifications, procedures, and programming outlined in Individual Education Plans (IEPs).
Maintain records of student progress and behavior with licensed staff, including special reports, feedback, and observations for 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 behavior strategies tailored to individual needs; assist with verbal de-escalation and non-violent crisis interventions to reduce risk of self-harm or harm to others.
Support social interaction and communication between students with special needs and 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.
Following training and delegation by a registered school nurse, accurately follow student medication delivery orders.
In online or remote settings, assist individuals and small groups with synchronous or asynchronous classroom activities, curriculum accommodations or modifications, and skill practice.
For signing para-educators in the DHH Program, develop students’ language, vocabulary, reading, and writing using sign language.
Prepare assignments for students to complete at home and support completion of assigned work.
Support students in troubleshooting technology issues.
Perform other duties as assigned or requested.