Toddler Classroom Lead Teacher
Attention early childhood professionals! Are you ready to join a community of individualized and joyful learning?
Montessori Community School (MCS) is in search of early childhood professionals to join our supportive and vibrant community of Montessori educators in the Toddler program, serving students 18 months through 3 years old. MCS is an independent school accredited by the American Montessori Society (AMS) for toddlers through eighth grade located on the border of Chapel Hill and Durham, North Carolina. We value teachers as mentors, guides, and partners. Teachers are given the freedom to follow the child, lead them to big work, and utilize the many resources in the community to expand their learning. The ideal candidate is committed to fostering an inclusive, equitable, and diverse learning community. To learn more, visit mcsdurham.org.
Essential Functions:
- Overall supervision and daily class functions of a group of children ages 18 months to 3 years old during the school day, from 8:00am to 3:45pm daily
- Observes all rules and regulations of MCS and local, state, or national regulatory agencies pertaining to the health, safety, and care of children
- Ensure safety and well-being of students in the classroom
- Provide a supportive and collaborative partnership with the assistant teacher by consistent communication
- Maintain student record keeping, lesson planning, parent reports, and parent conferences as requested
- Adhere to school handbook, guidelines and professional standards
- Regular daily attendance is a core function of this position
- The physical requirements of this position include but are not limited to picking up and carrying a child of minimum of 40 pounds, and mobility necessary to reach a child quickly in an emergency. Work will be conducted in both indoor and outdoor environments.
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable Accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Responsibilities:
- Observe students, identifying their needs and responding with appropriate individualized guidance and instruction
- Challenge each child to reach his/her fullest potential academically, emotionally, and physically in a prepared Montessori environment
- Preparation of activity and project materials, maintaining the inventory of the classroom, and composing regular classroom communications to parents and guardians
- Maintain a supportive and collaborative partnership with administration and colleagues to assist with curriculum development and implementation within the context of the school's overall program and mission
- Participate in ongoing professional development
- Attend all required faculty and team meetings
- Participate in lunch, recess, and naptime supervision, carline, parent/guardian conferences and education nights
- Collaborate and participate within a divisional team and interdisciplinary teachers
- Maintain and participate in home/school partnership by being open to consistent communication
Ideal candidates have the following:
- Montessori Certification through an accredited MACTE program, such as
- CGMS, AMS or AMI.
- Bachelor’s degree preferred, preferably in early childhood or related field
- Two years prior experience working with young children preferred
- Strong verbal and written communication skills
- Committed to the mission and core values of MCS, which include "respect, integrity, community, and love of learning"
- Flexible team player with a "can-do" attitude
- Working knowledge of Google suite or willingness to learn
- Ability to work independently and collaborate in teams with a wide range of individuals
- Committed to fostering an inclusive, equitable, and diverse learning community
Benefits include:
- Competitive salary
- Paid time off
- Tuition remission
- Insurance and 401k
- Paid professional development opportunities
MCS staff members also enjoy:
- Supportive families and strong school culture
- Beautiful campus with large classrooms and natural lighting
- Opportunities for summer employment
- Small class sizes
- Joyful, supportive, and fun co-workers
Our Montessori school strives to be an intentionally diverse community, comprised of people of different ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds, gender identities, family structures, sexual orientations, racial identities, national origins, religions, and abilities. Our hiring practices reflect this philosophy.
Interested in applying? Send your resume and cover letter to Leanne Wells, Finance and Business Office Manager: lwells@mcsdurham.org