Lead Preschool Teacher

About Mass Audubon
Mass Audubon is the largest nature-based conservation organization in New England. Founded in 1896 by two women who fought for the protection of birds, Mass Audubon carries on their legacy by focusing on the greatest challenges facing the environment today: the loss of biodiversity, inequitable access to nature, and climate change. With the help of our 160,000 members and supporters, we protect wildlife, conserve and restore resilient land, advocate for impactful environmental policies, offer nationally recognized education programs for adults and children, and provide endless opportunities to experience the outdoors at our wildlife sanctuaries. Explore, find inspiration, and take action at massaudubon.org.

About This Position
The Lead Preschool Teacher is the primary early childhood educator of the teaching team and holds lead responsibility for the one or more preschool classes, managing curriculum development, implementation, and family communications for students. They are responsible for designing educational experiences for nature preschool students in accordance with Mass Audubon’s Action Agenda strategic goals and Mass Audubon’s education frameworks, guidelines, and policies for Early Education and Nature Preschools. Lead Preschool Teacher candidates must possess a strong respect for young children and families, a love of teaching young children and a strong desire to connect children and nature and developing values for stewardship of natural and social communities. Lead Preschool Teachers must have a keen love of designing nature-based curriculum and teaching outside. They possess the ability to plan daily multi-sensory, play and nature-based, anti-bias, emergent and developmentally appropriate curriculum, incorporating a variety of hands-on/minds-on experiences. The Lead Preschool Teacher is the primary contact for families in the class, prepares progress reports, parent-teacher team conferences and maintains a warm, professional relationship with children, their parents and caregivers. The Lead Preschool Teacher may supervise Preschool Teachers or per diem educators with support from the Preschool Director.

Application Instructions
Please submit a resume and cover letter with your ADP application.

Responsibilities

• Provide a physically and emotionally safe environment for young children both indoors and outdoors.
• Maintain clear communication with the co-teachers and share teaching amongst the co-teaching faculty team.
• Responsible for engaging parents/caregivers in conversations about children’s challenging behaviors and teams with the Director to plan meetings with parents to explore appropriate strategies, interventions and possible collaboration with outside consultants.
• Responsible for emotional and physical health and safety of students and completing accident reports/injury forms as needed as well as medication logs. Communicate incidences to parent/guardian at the end of class, obtain signature and provide photocopies for parent and child’s preschool file.
• The Lead Teacher is charged with keeping current with relevant and ongoing changes in Mass Audubon, Sanctuary-based, and MA Department of Early Education and Care policies and regulations as well as the Mass Audubon mission and action agenda.
• Assess and document student development in the 5 domains; Complete progress reports twice a year and conduct parent-teacher team conferences, as scheduled by Preschool Director.
• Maintain the physical environment by contributing to classroom housekeeping tasks as needed and storing personal belongings away from preschool program space.
• Enhance the physical space by thoughtfully placing child-initiated art, emergent language poems, emergent math charts and graphs, photographs of nature, students/families in class community, murals and other learning centers that reflect a nature-based curriculum.
• Attend to all required safety and risk management requirements including, but not limited to conducting fire drills, filling out accident forms and medication logs, and informing Preschool Director of safety concerns as noted in daily activities.
• Professionally communicate with families about classroom activities, lessons, and school community.
• Must be comfortable exploring the natural world in a variety of weathers throughout the year for 2 or more hours a day when appropriate.
• Maintains radio contact with co-teachers and director at all times throughout the day.
• Meets weekly with teacher team to discuss and address classroom issues.

Education

• Lead in the preparation and presentation nature-based, multi-sensory, integrated, anti-bias and emergent curriculum for multi-age groups (3-5 years) of children in collaboration with faculty that enhances the physical, social/emotional and cognitive growth of young children.
• Understand early childhood development and manage reasonable outcomes and expectations for young children.
• Observe, document and assess the ongoing development of each child and write narrative based progress report twice per year.
• Serve as a resource for parent-caregivers, families and faculty in supporting healthy child development.

Marketing, Public/Community Relations

• Attend Nature Preschool Open Houses, as scheduled by Director, to describe the philosophy of the program, provide a general overview of what the preschool offers young children and their families and how to apply to the preschool.
• Attend school-wide community-building socials, as scheduled by Director.
• Act as an ambassador for the Nature Preschool as well as Mass Audubon Nature Preschools, recognizing that preschool classes are frequently observed by the general public, visiting professionals, prospective families and Mass Audubon staff members.
• As directed and approved by Preschool Director and Statewide Early Education Manager, act as an ambassador for Mass Audubon Nature Preschools when presenting at conferences, serving on committees, and representing our early education portfolio in public forums.

Other

• Attend regional staff meetings and actively participate in statewide education staff meetings, audience professional learning communities, and professional development trainings as required.
• Assist in other sanctuary and regional education activities, as needed.

Approximate workload distribution

• 70-90% curriculum development and instruction; program support including design and upkeep of classrooms and outdoor learning areas; family communication and reports.
• 10-30% staff meetings and professional development.

Qualifications
At Mass Audubon, our highest priority is finding the best candidate for the job. Research has shown that people of color and women are less likely to apply for jobs if they don’t believe they meet every one of the qualifications described in a job description. We encourage you to apply, even if you don't believe you meet every one of our described qualifications or you have a less traditional background. We are looking for applicants with the following qualifications:

• MA EEC Lead Teacher certification (or willing to attain) and/or EEC Director 1 certification preferred
• At least 3 years of experience teaching young children with experience developing curriculum and developmentally appropriate activities for preschool-aged children
• Excellent writing and communication skills and ability to work cooperatively and independently
• Interest and/or experience in nature-based, emergent and anti-bias teaching in early childhood education
• Successful candidates must pass multiple background record checks, as required by Mass Audubon and Department of Early Education and Care, including CORI/DCF/SORI
• Three employment references
• First aid/ CPR preferred, but not necessary (training provided)

Compensation, Benefits and Perks
This position’s pay range is $22.50-$24.83/hour; actual salary will reflect level of experience and qualifications relative to position requirements.

Benefits eligible staff at Mass Audubon may elect to enroll in medical, dental, and vision plans. Mass Audubon also offers disability and life insurance plans, a retirement plan through MetLife, and Flexible Spending Account options. Mass Audubon employment also includes access to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and the Reciprocity Agreement through the Consortium of Non-Profit Arts/Cultural/Environmental Organizations of New England. Mass Audubon employees also enjoy 13 paid holidays (holidays may shift annually due to where days fall within calendar).

Work Schedule
Approximately 24 hours per week, Monday-Thursday from 8:00am-2:00pm from September through mid-June with Friday staff meetings held once per month, occasional day-long professional development, and 1-2 evenings per year for family events. Ability to work some school vacation programs and summer program weeks is a plus.

Other Requirements
Employees must successfully complete a CORI and SORI Background Check and a Motor Vehicle Record (if applicable) is required.

Mass Audubon’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Justice
Mass Audubon embraces diversity and equal opportunity in a serious way. We are dedicated to forming a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. People of color are strongly encouraged to apply.

Mass Audubon’s mission is to “protect the nature of Massachusetts for people and for wildlife” by building a strong coalition of employees, volunteers, and community members. We recognize that the environmental movement and field of conservation have been affected by societal systems that have limited opportunity and access for many people. As a result, Mass Audubon is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and applicants. We are engaged in an ongoing process of organizational assessment and change, designed to remove barriers and create a workplace where all forms of diversity are recognized and valued.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
Mass Audubon is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and applicants. Mass Audubon prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.