Building Bridges Pre-K Cook/Floater

Job DescriptionJob Description
Summary

Bentonville Schools
Building Bridges Pre-K
Food Program Cook/Relief Staff

Qualifications:18 years or older with a high school diploma or GED, knowledge of food program requirements and experience working as a cook in a kitchen setting.
Location: Building Bridges Pre-K
Job Goals: Directly responsible to the Site Supervisor and Food Program Coordinator, the Food Program/Relief Staff will maintain all aspects of the kitchen and site food program in order for the program to be reimbursed and to assist the site by providing staff breaks, instructional assistance for the teacher(s) and working directly with children as needed.

Hours: 7:00-4:00 Monday-Friday
192 day contract

Duties

Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Interactions with Children

• Engages children in positive interactions.
• Uses routines to build relationships and learning opportunities.
• Shows respect for children and encourages respectful interactions.
• Uses language to build relationships and strengthen the child’s social and emotional competencies. Works with dual language learners to ensure progress is being made toward school readiness goals and learning English.
• Uses indirect and direct behavior guidance techniques and assists with discipline issues as needed.
• Supports children as they learn to resolve their own conflicts.
• Strives to meet each child’s individual needs when assisting classroom teachers.
• Accompanies assigned children and knows counts at all times.
• Maintains close supervision of children at all times.
• Works in the classroom as needed. Ensures staff-child ratios are met.

Activities and Environment

• Maintains a clean, organized kitchen that is safe and meets all health department guidelines.
• Ensures that the site meets all health, safety, and nutrition regulations. Follows CACFP Guidelines.
• Prepares food and transports to other sites as needed.
• Follows menus and ensures the implementation of a variety of foods in all food groups.
• Teaches and provides guidance for the development of good eating and health habits.
• Lifts 10-30 pounds regularly, up to 50 pounds occasionally.
• Assists in maintaining a clean, organized and inviting classroom outdoor environment that is safe and developmentally appropriate.
• Assists with implementing a variety of developmentally appropriate learning experiences.
• Assists with using the outdoors as part of the learning environment and complies with playground supervision procedures.
• Follows the break and daily schedule to meet the needs of the children/center.
• Follows instructions given by classroom teachers when providing a break.
• Rotates and sanitizes materials and disposes of broken or recalled items as instructed by the teacher.
• Accepts responsibility for shared space and helps keep it neat and organized.

Professional Responsibilities

• Meets program attendance requirements as outlined in the personnel handbook.
• Submits time off and clocks in/out at assigned time in Frontline.Is punctual.
• Maintains a professional appearance and follows the program dress code.
• Open to new ideas and suggestions for working with children and take initiative.
• Accepts responsibility for job-related tasks, to include any documentation and/or record keeping.
• Attends all staff meetings and meets program expectations for professional development (25 hours annually including nutrition training).
• Knows and is able to follow emergency procedures and risk management protocol.
• Keeps Site Supervisor Food Program Coordinator apprised of site’s status in relation to position.
• Keeps Lead Teachers/Supervisor apprised of individual children’s status.
• Accepts all assignments given by supervisors.
• Maintains all program requirements: Minimum Licensing, Better Beginnings, and program policies as outlined in the Personnel Handbook.
• Completes yearly self-evaluation.
• Uses good judgment and keeps information confidential.
• Is a mandated reporter under the Arkansas Child Maltreatment Reporting Act.

Interactions with Parents, Staff and Others

• Assists parents with questions and/or refers to Teachers and/or Supervisor.
• Works to build positive relationships with parents, co-workers and others.
• Communicates effectively with a positive, professional attitude (e.g. flexible, non-judgmental, objective, reflective, empathetic, tactful, patient) with supervisors, families, co-workers and others daily. Avoid gossip.
• Works as a part of a team with concern for the entire program and is flexible.

Additional qualifications include enjoyment of young children, good mental and physical health, and respect for diverse cultural backgrounds, willingness to complete training requirements, and willingness to undergo regulatory checks required by law.

Requirements

Title: Building Bridges Food Program Cook/Relief Staff
Qualifications:18 years or older with a high school diploma or GED, knowledge of food program requirements and experience working as a cook in a kitchen setting.

Nice To Haves

ServSafe Certification
Experience working in licensed childcare

Benefits

Free childcare for school age children pending space available
Insurance
Teacher Retirement

About Us

The Bentonville Schools Child Enrichment Services Adventure Club and Building Bridges programs provide quality childcare for children of working parents. Adventure Club is a before and after school program for children in Kindergarten through 6th grade. There is also a summer program, which offers a fun and safe place for children. Building Bridges is for infants through 5 years of age. The program’s purpose is to serve the parents and students of the Bentonville School District.

The Parents as Teachers program provides families with home visiting services primarily to families in the Bentonville School District and Benton County. PAT Parent Educators work with families to provide parent education so they can be their child’s first and best teacher and provide their child with developmentally appropriate learning activities. The goals of PAT are to increase parent knowledge of early childhood development and improve parenting practices, provide early detection of developmental delays and health issues, prevent child abuse and neglect and increase children’s school readiness and school success.

Our Values:

TEAMWORK...Everyone doing their part by putting the greater good of the whole above personal recognition or gain. We are all part of one team. We recognize the vital importance of working successfully with others and are committed to being a trusted partner with all who join us in pursuing our vision. The team members support the self-esteem of others and take pride in others’ successes. Team members hold themselves accountable for their performance. As individual team members improve and grow, we all improve and grow.

TRUST/TRUSTWORTHY...To rely on the character, ability, inner strength, and the trust of the organization and its people. To deserve trust, you must be trustworthy. Shared values and expectations are essential for developing trust. Our leadership team will take the lead in creating an environment which dissolves traditional barriers between work groups and promotes communication and cooperation, leading the systems thinking. This will diminish fear and mistrust among members of our organization.

RESPECT FOR PEOPLE...All people have value and should be treated with dignity, compassion, and respect. Employees want to be proud of their work. Leadership’s responsibility is to cultivate an environment that fosters pride and leads to personal and organizational growth. The first step is to empower the employees to improve work processes. We will lean toward improving performance rather than evaluating performance. And we will encourage the employees to join leadership in focusing on long term versus short term goals. We will invest in the

future by investing in people through a vigorous program of education, training, and encouraging self-improvement. We know that our greatest resources are our employees. We also understand that learning is a lifelong process. In addition, we will respect ALL of our families, no matter the culture, socioeconomic level, lifestyle, etc. All families deserve our best efforts.

COMMITMENT TO OUR PARENTS...A pledge of excellence in service and partnering with our families. This is the reality born of good intent, excellent skills, an understanding of our parents’ and children’s needs, and a commitment to continuously improve on the part of all employees. We must listen to our parents’ evaluation of how we are meeting their needs as an opportunity to improve our services to them, rather than viewing their comments as complaints. Generosity and caring are the nutrients that help us grow. Self-serving activities only

detract from our growth.

LOYALTY...Faithful to the organization and its people. We show commitment to our Purpose, Vision, Values, and to our parents by displaying a caring attitude and an interest in all those with whom we come in contact. In order to enlist our parents’ partnership with our organization, we pledge to pursue open communication allowing continuous feedback and to treat our parents in accordance with our values. We seek a long-term relationship with each other.

Staff Qualities:

● A sincere and loving attitude toward children. Patience and concern for their wellbeing is a must.

● A dedicated and loyal attitude for your work and your fellow staff members.

● The ability to handle any situation calmly and sensibly and the willingness to help others when the need arises.

● Pride in your work, exemplified by offering the children creative activities while keeping your work area clean and tidy at all times.

There are many rewards in working with children, which include sharing their sense of wonder, curiosity, warmth,and spontaneity. Helping them grow intellectually, physically, and emotionally can be a very involving and satisfying experience. Most importantly, the love of the children you care for is the greatest job satisfaction.

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