Bilingual After-Care Teacher Assistant– Infants and Toddlers - Full-time / Part-time

CentroNía is a nationally recognized, award-winning educational organization that provides affordable and high quality education; professional development to educators; and family support services in a bilingual and multicultural environment to low-income children and families. Our holistic approach ensures that the children and families we serve receive the support and encouragement they need to succeed academically, develop a strong sense of community, and live healthy and active lives.

Job Description:

The Teacher Assistants will work in the classroom under the direction of the lead teacher to reinforce the lessons afterward. Teacher assistants may also help with grading or planning lessons.

Essential responsibilities:

• Knowledge of state and local rules and regulations, which govern childcare, NAEYC accreditation standards, and District of Columbia Standards; Early Childhood Development standards in the areas of health, safety and nutrition; and state regulations governing the identification and reporting of child abuse and neglect.
• Knowledge of child development including typical and atypical language, cognitive, motor, social, and self-help skills development.
• Ability to provide services to all children and families with respect and dignity.
• Advocate for parents in accessing needed resources and support services.
• Assist in ensuring parent involvement and/or awareness in program planning through regular open communications, center parent meetings, parent newsletters, and parent conferences.
• Assist in the maintenance of assigned classroom records including but not limited to; attendance, and volunteer time sheets.
• Collaborate with other staff in developing plans for activities and strategize on program development and implementation.
• Comply with required documentation and record keeping responsibilities for both the classroom functioning and for individual children.
• Ensure records on children and families are current, complete, and kept confidential.
• Ensure all required reports are completed accurately and in a timely manner as per the Early Childhood Coordinators request or Center Director.
• Involve parents in the classroom in meaningful ways which demonstrates the belief that parents are the principal influence on their child's education and development.
• Assist in lesson planning, creating and implementing a dynamic daily program for children in conjunction with the Early Childhood Teacher.

Other Duties:

• To check/examine shared areas such as bathroom, playgrounds, and van for health and safety hazards.
• To ensure that all children are signed in and out of the center upon drop off and pick up in accordance with CentroNía standards.
• To ensure that child is received by parent at the end of the school day; even in the event that the child is picked up after the work day is over.
• To submit timely submission of leave requests for approval before the date of absence.
• To support the program by completing other duties as assigned by the Coordinator of the program/Director or the Lead Teacher of the group.

Required Core Competencies:

• Propensity for problem solving.
• Ability to relate to families in a holistic fashion that incorporates education, health and nutrition, and family issues.
• Experience working with groups and/or families from diverse cultural, economic, and ethnic backgrounds.
• Willingness to comply with the established agency performance standards which may include: productivity/personal responsibility, client/customer service-orientation, embracing a team player orientation, entrepreneurialism, and maintaining a professional demeanor.
• Demonstrate self-motivation, continual learning, and taking initiative.
• Practice professional and effective interpersonal communication skills.
• Able to work independently or with others in a team approach.
• Nurturing character that enables the building of a respectful, trusting and loving relationship with children and their families.
• Ethical and professional conduct that enables the building of a respectful, trusting and collaborative relationship with the center staff.
• Modeling of appropriate behavior for children, parents, and other staff.
• Ability to be responsible for the completion of assigned tasks and projects.
• Ability to understand the importance of family information and to keep it confidential.

Desired Attributes:

• Strong commitment to children’s learning and continued social development.
• Commitment to growth through attendance to professional development activities.
• Demonstrate flexibility in regards to schedules, sharing of tasks, and changes in the routines or plans.
• Ability to contribute new ideas and diverse methods of problem solving to the group.
• Dependability, patience, and honesty.
• Positive attitude towards the work.
• Respectful of diversity and open minded.
• Helpful to others and able to work cooperatively.
• Demonstrate self-motivation, continual learning, and initiative

Qualifications:

• Two to three years’ experience in an Early Childhood setting and demonstrated capacity in assisting with planning classroom activities, observing children’s behaviors, and maintaining educational records.
• CDA Certification for Infants and Toddlers, or related field, prior to employment (maintain current certificate during employment) or, CDA plus credits in Associate’s in Education, Child Development, or related field.
• High School Diploma or GED equivalent.
• Current First Aid certificate within 30 days of employment (maintain current certificate during employment).
• Current CPR certificate within 30 days of employment (maintain current certificate during employment)
• Effective communication skills.
• Flexibility in regards to schedules, sharing of tasks and changes in routines and plans.
• Bilingual (English-Spanish / Spanish-English) highly preferred.

Salary: 

Pays up to $21.50/hr. according to credentials and experience

Our benefits include:

• Work-Life harmony
• Health and Dental Plan
• Life Insurance
• Child Care Discounts
• Professional Development Opportunities
• Competitive 401K Plan
• Inclusive work environment

This job description does not list all the duties of the job. Management reserves the right to review and edit duties as desired or needed.

To Apply:

Please submit your resume and cover letter; indicating the position you are applying to:

CentroNía

Attn: Human Resources
1420 Columbia Road, NW

Washington, DC 20009

centroniajobs@centronia.org

Fax (202) 745-0154

CentroNía is an equal opportunity employer.