Towson University (TU) has earned distinction as both a top-100 public university and one of the nation's great colleges to work for. Located north of Baltimore, TU currently enrolls over 19,000 students and is the second-largest university in the prestigious University System of Maryland. Towson University fosters a climate that is grounded in respect to cultivate the intellectual and personal growth of the entire university community.

In the absence of the Lead Teacher assigned to the classroom, the Floating Lead will hold the role of Lead Teacher in early childhood classrooms. Our lab school setting will include the duties of teaching in a variety of classrooms, mentoring internships, supervising student staff and assistants, as well as, communicating the school philosophy with the University community and families at the Center. Communicate and collaborate with teaching team to provide support for the learning community and Center operations as needed. Communicate efficiently and effectively with families about the growth and development of their student. Build and foster positive and nurturing relationships throughout the school community. Model a love of the arts and STEM to our early learners through planning and implement a developmentally appropriate curriculum while maintaining our Montessori/Reggio Emilia inspired environment. Fulfill and maintain all licensing requirements, MSDE credentialing, as well as, collaborate with various university departments and represent the greater mission of Towson University.

Responsibilities and Duties

• In collaboration with and support of teaching team, the Floating Lead Teacher will help to develop instruction that is developmentally appropriate to all students within in the classroom community. Compose regular communications with families. Assess all students and use project-based curriculum to promote growth of the whole-child and meet them at their level of learning. Create a nurturing yet structured environment for all students, both early learners and college, to explore and learn. Using outlined assessment tools to create and update a digital documentation of student progress. Utilize the school-wide policy for discipline and maintain confidentiality of every family and student. Follow university protocols for child abuse and state licensing requirements.
• Supervise and mentor student staff. Use supervisory skills to maintain the desired climate of the school. Collaborate and evaluate the performance of staff at the end of each semester. Communicate school policies with emails, meetings, and trainings. Model best practices as the College of Education defines them in a learner-centered educational environment.
• Communicate with families and other agencies regularly. Support the classroom assigned Lead Teacher to host family conferences 2 - 3 times a year to allow collaboration with teacher and parents to plan and assess the goals for individual learning. Conferences may also be held outside of these times to address specific needs of a student or promote early intervention strategies. Portfolios are maintained to support the planning for the growth of every learner and are used to document such growth.
• Collaborate with other members of the teaching team to create and enforce a vision for the school community. Collaborate with various departments at the University and participate in TU initiatives. Promote the Center within the greater community. Maintain positive relationships with interns in the classrooms through constructive feedback and close communication with professors.
• Participate in all school initiatives, i.e. garden, internships, art gallery, family reading program, and any other interest programs.
• Provide administrative assistance when necessary, i.e. train new student staff.
• Maintain classroom management, taking into account individual student needs. Be aware of specific classroom routines and procedures to maintain consistency for students.
• Maintain CPR & First Aid Certification and stay current with MSDE license requirements.

Qualifications and Skills

• Bachelor's degree.
• 1 year classroom experience.
• 90+9 clock hour certification in early childhood curriculum and development and communication or MSDE teacher certificate/approval.

Salary and Benefits

$45,000 annually and a contract that offers annual leave, holidays, sick days and tuition remission. Contractual employees scheduled to work 30 or more hours per week may be eligible for subsidized health benefits coverage. To learn more about our benefits, click here. TU also offers a variety of great perks and discounts, which can be found here.

If you are motivated, innovative and team-oriented, we would love to hear from you.
For consideration, please submit a cover letter and resume with your online application.
This position will be open for a minimum of 14 days.