Teacher

Description:

Easterseals Blake Foundation started as the Cerebral Palsy Foundation of Southern Arizona. Since then, we have expanded our services to better serve our community members. We are now one of Arizona's top providers of comprehensive behavioral health services, child welfare, and services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We serve more than 40,000 individuals and families across 10 counties and support more than 3,700 children in Foster Care throughout Southern Arizona. Are you ready to make profound, positive differences in people's lives every day?

We offer our full-time employees the following benefits:

• Medical, Dental and Vision
• Flexible Spending Account and Dependent Flexible Spending Account
• Health Savings Account
• Voluntary Life insurance
• Voluntary Short-term Disability insurance
• Critical Illness insurance
• Accident insurance
• Employer paid life insurance, long-term disability insurance, and Employee Assistance Program

General Position Description: Implements age-appropriate curriculum and activities while creating a nurturing and stimulating environment that promotes the social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development of children in the classroom.

Inspire minds, shape the future with us! Join a strong team where you learn, thrive, and play every day! We are looking for passionate and dedicated teachers to join our team and make a difference in the lives of little ones. Teachers provide opportunities for children to learn, discover, and play in a safe, nurturing environment, setting the stage for academic, social, and emotional development. Make a lasting impact by becoming a teacher today!

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Designs and maintains a home-like classroom environment to enhance culturally sensitive learning based on the developmental needs of the children.
• Develops curriculum considering the age and experience of the children, reflecting all areas of development including physical, emotional, social, language, and cognitive skills.
• Adapts the curriculum and instruction to meet the needs of the individual child’s strengths, needs, and interests.
• Tracks developmental milestones and shares observations of progress and concerns.
• Uses a variety of teaching strategies to encourage learning, following the individual child’s lead and preferred modality for learning.
• Facilitates interaction and cooperation among the children. Encourages children to lead their own small group activities.
• Facilitates a sense of responsibility and self-regulation in children, intervening only when necessary in settling disputes or differences.
• Establishes partnerships with parents and families in order to achieve shared goals for children.
• Works collaboratively with the Director, colleagues and community organizations in best serving the child’s needs.
• Provides instruction and leadership for teaching assistants.
• Participates in the process of ongoing professional development and meetings. Maintains comprehensive communication among all contacts within the agency, members, and external agencies. Models professional standards and ethics in accordance with EBF Code of Conduct, Strategic Plan, Mission, and Vision.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Requirements:

Minimum Requirements: Associate’s degree or higher in Early Childhood Education, Early Childhood Special Education, Elementary Education, or Child Development; or unrelated Associate’s degree or higher with 36 units of higher education credits in Early Childhood Education, Early Childhood Special Education, Elementary Education, or Child Development; or a state certification to practice as a teacher in a public school, and the certification is reflective of the age of the children served required. Bilingual (Spanish) preferred.

Regulatory

• Must be at least 18 years of age.
• Current, unrestricted AZ driver’s license with no more than two (2) minor moving violations or one (1) accident within the past three (3 years). Three (3) years of driving experience required.
• Must be able to pass a criminal background check.
• Ability to obtain and maintain an AZ DPS Level 1 fingerprint clearance card (employer provides).
• CPR and First Aid certification (Employer provides).
• Initial and current negative TB test result (employer provides).
• Physical exam may be required depending on location or licensing requirements (employer provides).

Skills/Job Knowledge/Abilities: Knowledge of typical and atypical child development. Knowledge of developmentally appropriate and best educational practices supported by research and evaluation. Knowledge of and sensitivity to cultural and linguistic diversity. Knowledge of methods to include children with developmental challenges. Ability to be self-directed when necessary, yet flexible when the needs of the children change. Ability to use principles of reflective practice with children, families, and colleagues. Ability to use technology as a tool for record-keeping, documentation, and investigation. Able to establish and maintain a team atmosphere of communication and collaboration for all that reach out to the Department. Must be sensitive to cultural and linguistic diversity. Excellent customer service in stressful situations. Maintains a professional appearance, communications, and actions. Excellent interpersonal communication skills. Possesses basic computer knowledge.

Working Conditions/Physical Requirements (with or without accommodation): Normal childcare and classroom environment with multiple interruptions in person. High activity environment with children and parent interactions. Able to lift up to 50 lbs to support children in care. Visual acuity to read information from computer screens, forms, and to assess the wellbeing of the children. Able to speak clearly in conversations, general communications and to communicate verbally with children and emergency personnel as needed for daily operations. Hearing ability for communication in persona, phone, and/or other electronic methods. Manual dexterity for typing, writing and to assist children with daily functions. Able to stoop, squat, reach, pull, push, stretch, ascend and descend stairs, stand and sit for long periods of time. May be required to work additional hours or days depending on circumstances.

Easterseals Blake Foundation and Aviva are an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative action employer that promotes a work environment of inclusion and diversity. We are committed to provide employment opportunities to all candidates based on their qualifications free of discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation or gender identity), age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, mental or physical disability, or any other characteristic protected by law.

If you have any questions, require assistance or reasonable accommodations while seeking employment, please contact the Human Resource Department at HR@blake.easterseals.com or call 520-327-1529.