EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATOR

Beginning August 12, 2026

12 month position

DCS Early Childhood Educator

General Statement of Job

REPORTS TO: Director of Preschool Programs

SUPERVISES: N/A

PURPOSE: The Early Childhood Educator is responsible for providing day-to-day high quality, age-appropriate lesson plans for children in the respective age group they are assigned. Teachers are to maintain a high-quality early learning environment and make adjustments according to the observation, documentation, and assessment of developmental skills for each child in the classroom, to provide a well-rounded educational program.

The Early Childhood Educator is responsible to the Director of the Child Development Center. The Early Childhood Educator shall be immunized, have a current TB skin test, and be in good physical health as evidenced by a physical examination documentation. The Early Childhood Educator is also responsible for current certification in CPR, First Aid, and for meeting all other requirements set forth by the Division of Child Development and Early Education and the Department of Public Instruction.

SPECIFIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

• Ensures program meets the center's mission, philosophies, goals, policies, and standards
• Demonstrates time management, initiative, and flexibility
• Ensures an age-appropriate learning environment and daily routine for children
• Demonstrates knowledge on how to observe, document, and assess children's learning
• Ensures a safe environment for children
• Strives for positive adult-child interactions
• Exhibits professional and supportive relationships with families and other adults
• Strives for professional growth and development

Essential Responsibilities Details:

• Ensures program meets the center's mission, philosophies, goals, policies, and standards
• Complies with all licensing regulations to meet the desired licensing level
• Keeps abreast of changes in licensing laws and regulations
• Supports and complies with all center policies and procedures
• Maintains records, reports, and other required information
• Punctual, dependable, and good attendance record
• Professional and neat appearance; follows dress code

2. Demonstrates time management, initiative, and flexibility

• Maintain flexibility with staff patterns, schedules, and center responsibilities as the goal of the center is to provide quality early education that requires the performance of various duties to benefit the program.
• Uses free time to prepare for activities and to organize and clean the room and contents
• Willing to take on extra duties or responsibilities when needed

3. Ensures an age-appropriate learning environment and daily routine for children

• Maintain a daily schedule and lesson plans for classroom activities for effective instruction
• Promotes child development and learning
• Use content knowledge to build a meaningful curriculum
• Submit developmentally appropriate lesson plans.
• The substitute sub folder is always up-to-date.
• Lesson plans consider the interests, style, pace, and special needs of individual children and utilize required curriculum resources
• Centers are continually enriched to support the emerging interests of children
• Materials are easily accessible for children to allow for independent play
• Materials are stored in an organized manner; children participate in the return of materials
• The schedule plans for smooth transitions and limits children's waiting time

4. Demonstrates knowledge on how to observe, document, and assess children's learning.

• Document children's progress by keeping anecdotal notes
• Prepares documentation for family-teacher conferences
• Utilizes documentation data to inform instruction plans and support student growth

5. Ensures a safe environment for children

• Children are carefully and continuously visually supervised indoors and outdoors
• required staff-to-child ratios are maintained at all times
• Ensure all charts/forms are accurate, including daily reports, accident reports, medicine forms, feeding charts, and sign-in/out sheets
• Medicines and other harmful substances are stored and locked out of reach of children
• Children are routinely given a health check; sick children are effectively monitored
• Proper cleaning and sanitation procedures are followed; the environment is clean
• Children are released to approved adults only; identification is checked as needed

6. Strives for positive adult-child interactions

• Treat children, parents, students, and each other with respect and kindness. Children must be nurtured, and discipline must always be respectful of the child.
• Understands children's developmental levels
• Shows affection and support for all children; forms interactive relationships
• Supports and participates in learning experiences initiated by children
• Supports children's developing independence; shares control with children
• Uses appropriate voice tone and discipline techniques
• Adopts a problem-solving approach to social conflict
• Helps children make cause-and-effect connections when solving conflicts
• Behavior expectations match and respect children's developing capabilities

7. Exhibits professional and supportive relationships with families and other adults

• Maintain the confidentiality of each child and family at all times.
• Builds family and community relationships.
• Demonstrates developmentally effective approaches to connect with children and families.
• Develop and maintain open lines of communication with parents, develop specific communication networks, acknowledge parent needs, and talk with parents about their child's development
• Ensure parents are familiar with all staff and volunteers.
• Schedule, prepare, and participate in annual parent/teacher conferences
• Encourages and develops team attitude; supports other team members
• Shares responsibility for team functions; assumes an equal share of responsibility
• Effectively directs classroom assistants and substitutes when needed
• Respects and values individual differences
• Exhibits good judgment; handles situations professionally
• Handles complaints professionally

8. Strives for professional growth and development

• Maintain current personnel file.
• Seeks personal improvement in early education field, including continuing college-level coursework
• Attend and participate in staff meetings and PLC sessions

MINIMUM TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE

Required: Associates Degree in Early Childhood Education or Child Development, or related discipline from a regionally accredited institution with 2 years of experience.

Preferred: Experience working with young children in a licensed child care setting, including the supervision of Instructional Assistants or other support staff. Current enrollment in courses with a goal of obtaining a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education or Child Development, or related discipline. Willingness to make continued progress of at least 6 semester hours annually.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS OR STANDARDS REQUIRED

TO PERFORM ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

Physical Requirements: Must be able to use a variety of equipment and classroom tools such as computers, copiers, typewriters, calculators, pencils, scissors, and equipment for children with special needs, etc. Must be able to exert a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects. Due to amount of time spent standing and/or walking, physical requirements are consistent with those for Light Work.

Data Conception: Requires the ability to compare and/or judge the readily observable, functional, structural, or composite characteristics (whether similar to or divergent from obvious standards) of data, people or things.

Interpersonal Communication: Requires the ability to speak and/or signal people to convey or exchange information. Includes receiving instructions, assignments and/or directions from superiors.

Language Ability: Requires the ability to read a variety of correspondence, reports, handbooks, forms, lists, etc. Requires the ability to prepare correspondence, simple reports, forms, instructional materials, etc., using prescribed format.

Intelligence: Requires the ability to apply principles of logical or scientific thinking to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions; to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagrammatic form; and to deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

Verbal Aptitude: Requires the ability to record and deliver information, to explain procedures, to follow oral and written instructions. Must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently in variety of technical or professional languages including medical, legal and counseling terminology.

Numerical Aptitude: Requires the ability to utilize mathematical formulas; to add and subtract; multiply and divide; utilize decimals and percentages; and to apply the principles of descriptive statistics, statistical inference and statistical theory.

Form/Spatial Aptitude: Requires the ability to inspect items for proper length, width and shape.

Motor Coordination: Requires the ability to coordinate hands and eyes rapidly and accurately in using office equipment.

Manual Dexterity: Requires the ability to handle a variety of items such as office equipment and hand tools. Must have minimal levels of eye/hand/foot coordination.

Color Discrimination: Requires the ability to differentiate between colors and shades of color.

Interpersonal Temperament: Requires the ability to deal with people beyond giving and receiving instructions. Must be adaptable to performing under stress and when confronted with emergency situations.

Physical Communication: Requires the ability to talk and hear: (Talking: expressing or exchanging ideas by means of spoken words. Hearing: perceiving nature of sounds by ear). Must be able to communicate via telephone.

DISCLAIMER

The preceding job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees to this job.