Pre K Lead Teacher

Briya is committed to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion within our organization and the communities we serve. We embrace diversity of experiences, ideas, and individuals, and seek to bring diverse candidates to the table.

Important Note: Briya is mandating that all staff are up to date on COVID-19 vaccination.

Position Summary:

The Pre-K Lead Teacher is part of the early childhood education team at Briya Public Charter School - a leading two-generation education program serving parents and their young children. Briya is a Tier One Public Charter School, consistently achieving the highest educational outcomes through its innovative, family-centric programming.

Briya's early childhood program serves children from six weeks through pre-kindergarten. In Briya's dual-language Pre-K classes, three to five year-olds learn through a project-based curriculum. Briya teachers draw inspiration from the pedagogical principles of the Reggio Emilia approach, as well as research about best practices for young dual language learners. Teachers engage in authentic assessment on a daily basis and work collaboratively in bilingual inclusion classrooms. While children attend the early childhood program, their parents attend classes comprised of three highly integrated areas of study: English, parenting, and digital literacy. Briya also offers workforce development programs for advanced students who wish to pursue career-ready certifications.

Briya has a strategic partnership with Mary's Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center, further strengthening student families with comprehensive medical, dental, and social services.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Planning, Teaching, and Assessment:

• Plan for and provide high-quality daily instruction that reflects knowledge of child development in a mixed age Pre-K classroom. Plan and implement experiences and activities that span developmental and content areas (language, cognitive, social-emotional and physical, as well as literacy, math, science, social studies, the arts, etc.). Support children's concept and skill development through thoughtful, playful, and engaging instruction throughout all parts of the daily schedule.

• Create and maintain a learning environment that is organized, safe, and responsive to children's changing interests, abilities, and needs. Set up interest areas for children and adapt them to relate to current topics of study. Utilize the framework of the Creative Curriculum, principles of the Reggio Emilia approach, and Anti-Bias Education principles of education to create and sustain a non-commercial, non-stereotypic indoor and outdoor learning environment for young children.

• Create and implement appropriate activities and interactions to advance children's language and literacy skills in the language of instruction. Utilize research-based strategies and involve families to acknowledge and strengthen children's home language (L1) in addition to teaching the L2 (English) in the classroom. Follow a bilingual preschool model that helps children build a strong foundation in oral and written language.

• Utilize and build upon positive relationships with children and families as a foundational component to teaching and learning. Guide children's behavior in positive ways and maintain a positive social atmosphere. Use evidence-based strategies to support all children's social emotional development including explicit teaching of social emotional strategies.

• Document observations of children on an ongoing basis, linking them to curriculum objectives and performance levels, and use them to guide planning and instruction. Maintain a complete online portfolio for each child as well as paper portfolios as necessary.

• Consult with teaching team on a regular basis to review student progress, share strategies and resources, as well as make plans to involve families. Participate in regular MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Support) data meetings to generate strategies to support children who struggle to meet assessment benchmarks and curricular expectations.

Family Support and Engagement:

• Demonstrate understanding and competency for two-generation education by actively demonstrating respect for parents as children's first teachers and acknowledge and promote the parent-child relationship. Further examples include; listening to parents, engaging families in children's learning by sharing children's accomplishments and class content, and inviting families to share information about their child, ask questions, and have an active role in the school and their child's education.

• Create family-friendly reports that include work samples and photos to summarize information about children's development and learning and hold three scheduled parent conferences per year.

• Use home visits (when appropriate and when local conditions allow) as opportunities to build or strengthen relationships with children and parents and provide authentic extension ideas or materials to support children's learning at home. Treat home visits as opportunities to better understand and utilize each family's strengths and goals.

• Demonstrate cultural responsiveness by considering the funds of knowledge that each family contributes as well as cultural and educational differences that may impact formal schooling. Find ways to partner with team members and help students overcome any barriers that may impact their academic or social development.

Professional Learning:

• Reflect on professional development needs and contribute to a culture of learning and reflection by continuing to read and research information on best practices and taking steps to integrate research and professional development into daily practice.

• Communicate regularly with co-teacher/s about classroom practices, routines, and children. Use time with other teachers to reflect and plan.

• Evaluate instructional effectiveness and modify approaches based on feedback, reflection, and assessment.

• Embrace the mission, philosophy and core values of the school and strive to demonstrate them in daily practice.

Competencies:

Briya Public Charter School values and expects the following from its employees:

• Professionalism

• Treats others with respect and consideration regardless of their status or position. Follows established policies and procedures to support the overall function of the organization.

• Safety and Security

• Observes safety and security procedures, reports potentially unsafe conditions, and uses equipment and materials properly.

• Attendance/Punctuality

• Is consistently at work and on time, adhering to a schedule pre-determined between the employee and the supervisor.

• Dependability

• Follows instruction and responds to management direction. Takes responsibility for own actions.

• Financial Management

• Contributes to the financial health of the school through dedication to student retention, support of new family recruitment, careful classroom budgeting, and cost-conscious expenditures to meet the needs of the school.

Qualifications:

Education and/or Experience:

• Bachelor's or master's degree in Early Childhood or related field.

• Bilingual and bi literate in English and Spanish, preferred.

• Minimum of three- five years' experience working with young children preferably including children dual language learners and children with special needs.

• Fluent speaker of the modeling language.

Physical Demands

• Regularly required to sit; frequently required to reach with hands and arms, walk, stoop, kneel, crouch, talk or hear; must be able to lift objects up to twenty-five (25) pounds. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Work Environment

• Mostly in a typical office and classroom setting with quiet to moderate noise level.