Severe Needs Para Educator - Holly Hills Elementary School

Cherry Creek Schools•Holly Hills, 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 assists with adapting and delivering curriculum, implementing student IEP supports and modifications, maintaining progress and behavior records, preparing instructional materials, and supporting classroom activities. Depending on assignment, duties may also include reinforcing appropriate behavior, verbal de-escalation, non-violent crisis interventions, social interaction support, and technical physical care such as toileting, grooming, feeding, positioning, and delegated medication administration. Remote assignments include supporting online learning, preparing work for students at home, maintaining records, and troubleshooting technology. The position has no direct supervisory responsibilities. Work location may change to meet organizational requirements. The work takes place indoors and outdoors, typically at a moderate noise level, and involves medium physical work, including lifting or carrying up to 50 pounds, prolonged standing and walking, frequent bending, reaching, climbing, lifting, pulling, and pushing, squatting, and overhead work.

Requirements

High School Equivalency (HSE) diploma.
Criminal background check and fingerprinting required.
No professional work experience required.
For Title I assignments, meet at least 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 working in Autism, Behaviorally Disordered, or ILC assignments, complete mandatory biennial Crisis Prevention Intervention training provided by the District.
Medication administration training provided by the District 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 impact of hearing loss on learning and social interaction.
For Homebound assignments, ability to set appropriate boundaries and build appropriate relationships while working in students’ homes with families and other healthcare providers; ability to communicate appropriately and maintain boundaries 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 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 and adapt curriculum to individual student needs; deliver curriculum to individuals and small groups to support skill generalization.
Implement accommodations, supports, modifications, procedures, and programming outlined in students’ Individual Education Plans (IEPs).
Maintain student progress and behavior records in conjunction with licensed staff; provide reports, feedback, and observations to 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 risk of harm to students and 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.
Follow student medication delivery orders when trained and delegated by a registered school nurse.
In remote settings, assist individuals and small groups with online classroom activities and curriculum accommodations or modifications; support skill generalization and, in the DHH Program, develop language, vocabulary, reading, and writing using sign language when needed.
Prepare assignments for students to complete at home and support completion of assigned work.
Help students troubleshoot technology issues in remote learning settings.
Perform other duties as assigned or requested.