Early Childhood Educator I

the Early Childhood Educator II in overseeing day-to-day infant, toddler, and preschool classroom operations. Assists in the planning and implementation of curriculum that encourages advancement of children's physical, intellectual, and social/emotional development. Provides a classroom program that builds and strengthens positive help concepts and individual strengths of children. Establishes and maintains a safe and healthy learning environment. Supervises, guides, and interacts with children indoors and outdoors. Assists with the observation and documentation of children's development. Specific Duties and Responsibilities Essential Functions: Assists in the planning and implementation of curriculum that encourages advancement of children's physical, intellectual, and social/emotional development. Assists in the development and implementation of activities that promote good health habits and integrate the health and nutrition components into the classroom. Provides a classroom program that builds and strengthens positive help concepts and individual strengths of children. Establishes and maintains a safe and healthy learning environment. Assists Early Childhood Educator II in daily lesson planning. Assists Early Childhood Educator II in maintaining documentation for compliance with center policies and procedures. Adheres to state and local health and safety policies and procedures. Serves daily meals while maintaining sanitation rules/regulations and the Child and Adult Food Care Program requirements. Supervises, guides, and interacts with children indoors and outdoors. Nurtures children's social and emotional development demonstrating affection and emotional support. Adheres to adult/child ratios as required by state regulations and national accreditation guidelines. Develops and maintains positive relationships with children, families, staff, and students. Assists with the observation and documentation of children's development and provides feedback to Early Childhood Educator II for the creation of individual goals. Works cooperatively with support staff in the provision of direct services and the development of goals for children with disabilities. Oversees maintenance upkeep and inventory of classroom, supplies, materials, and equipment. Adheres to the College's rules and regulations. Maintains confidentiality of program staff and child information. Attends and participates in staff meetings and trainings to increase professional knowledge, skills, and competencies, as assigned. Maintains familiarity with childcare licensing center-based regulations, state, and national accreditation guidelines. Manages the classroom program in Early Childhood Educator II's absence. Assists Early Childhood Educator II in mentoring and overseeing field study students from the Child Development and Early Childhood programs, work-study students, and part-time employees. Performs other duties as assigned. Required Education and Experience Minimum of 12 earned college credit hours in Child Development/Early Childhood. At least one (1) year experience in a childcare center environment required. Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills. Strong computer skills with knowledge of Microsoft Office including, but not limited to, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, the Windows environment, and internet research skills. Ability to use the team approach to resolve problems and conflicts. Ability to work safely without presenting a direct threat to self or others. Demonstrated commitment to achieving the vision and mission of South Texas College. Ability to read, analyze, and interpret common regulatory specifications and technical journals, financial reports, and legal documents. Ability to write routine reports and correspondence. Ability to effectively present information and respond to inquiries from parents/guardians, management, staff, regulatory agencies, public groups or members of the business community. Ability to apply practical understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form. Ability to deal with standardized situations with only occasional or no variables. Checks, Certificates, Licenses, and Registrations Security Sensitive position: All applicants are subject to a criminal background check under South Texas College policy. In addition, subject to federal background check. Must have complete immunization records and physical examination in compliance with Texas Health and Human Services Child Care Licensing Standards and the National Accreditation Commission. Adult and Pediatric CPR and First Aid certifications required or must be obtained within six (6) months of hire. Food Handler certificate, preferred. Current Child Development Associate Credential, preferred. Physical Requirements Must be able to physically interact with children, including talking, hearing, sitting, standing, walking, running, reaching with hands and arms; and stooping, kneeling, crouching, or crawling. Must frequently lift and/or move children, equipment and child-sized furniture weighing up to 50 pounds. Ability to be mobile including standing for potentially long periods of time, walking, running, stooping, kneeling, crouching, reaching, crawling, or getting up and down from floor level. Perceiving the nature of sounds at normal speaking levels with or without correction. Ability to receive detailed information through oral communication, and to make the discrimination in sound. Ability to make rational decisions through sound logic and deductive processes. Substantial movements (motions) of the wrist, hands, and/or fingers. Bending the body downward and forward by bending leg and spine. Raising objects from a lower to a higher position or moving objects horizontally from position-to-position. Occurs to a considerable degree and requires substantial use of upper extremities and back muscles. Applying pressure to an object with the fingers and palm. Picking, pinching, typing, or otherwise working, primarily with fingers rather than with the whole hand as in handling. Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word including those activities in which they must convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other workers accurately, loudly, or quickly. Close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; and/or extensive reading. Mobility to accomplish tasks, particularly for long distances or moving from one work site to another. Work Environment: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is exposed to an outdoor environment daily; frequent interruptions and irregularities in the work schedule; and may be exposed to infectious diseases. The above job description is not intended as, nor should it be construed as, exhaustive of all responsibilities, skills, efforts, or working conditions associated with this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job. Organization Founded in 1993, South Texas College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and offers more than 120 degree & certificate options, including associate degrees in a variety of liberal art, social science, business, math, science, technology, advanced manufacturing and allied health fields of study. Additionally, South Texas College is the only community college in the State of Texas to offer four baccalaureate degrees. South Texas College has a faculty and staff of more than 2,700 to serve the college's five campuses, two higher education centers, and one virtual campus. Since 2000, the Dual Credit Programs has served over 100,000 high school students at 70 high school sites, saving families over 200 million dollars in tuition. South Texas College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the Baccalaureate and Associate degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of South Texas College.