Brightpoint (formerly known as Children’s Home & Aid) invites you to join our team of mission-driven staff who share a common vision: an equitable world where all children and families thrive in strong communities. As a leader in the human services sector for 140 years, we aim to advance the well-being of children by investing in families and strengthening communities through data-informed, collaborative, and preventative solutions.

The Teacher Assistant II is a critical member of the Marletta Darnall Child & Family Center team, using Head Start, Early Head Start, and Creative Curriculum® to enhance the physical, emotional, and cognitive growth of children through play and hands-on experiences. You will supervise children in engaged play activities and conduct small group activities, observe and report children's behavior to the teacher and contribute ideas for lesson plans. As a Teacher Assistant, you will gain experience in an early childhood classroom and be supported in working towards your career goals in the Early Childhood field.

Candidate qualifications:

• Child Development Associate credential OR a minimum of 2 years of college, including 6 hours of early childhood education or child development courses required.
• For 3-5 year old classroom Teacher Assistants: Illinois State Board of Education Paraprofessional Educator license required.
• One year of early childhood education experience preferred.
• The ability to communicate effectively in both English and Spanish preferred.
• Strongly believe that social skills, self-regulation, and emotional development are just as important as reading and math readiness in successfully preparing children for kindergarten.

Job details:

• Compensation: Range starts at $17.42/hr; offers are commensurate with experience.
• Location: Classroom setting at the Marletta Darnall Child & Family Center 
• Schedule: full-time, hourly; center is open Mon-Fri, 7:30am-5:30pm; assigned shifts will vary.
• Student Loan Forgiveness: Brightpoint is an approved agency for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).

Where you work matters.

We believe that by building diverse and inclusive teams of passionate advocates for youth and families, we can continue to show up for Illinois families, putting those families at the center of every decision, and strengthening the communities where we all work, play, and live together. (More about who we are here.)

We invite you to become an active member of a team that supports, inspires, and challenges each other, and grow your career in an organization that celebrates emerging leaders and provides development and learning opportunities aligned with your individual goals and aspirations. If you are looking for an opportunity to do meaningful work, including raising your unique and authentic voice to disrupt the systemic inequality impacting children and families, we encourage you to apply today.

Click here to review our agency’s Blueprint for Impact.

Brightpoint is committed to the principles of Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action. All employment activities are conducted in an equal and equitable fashion. The Agency prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender, age, religion, disability, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, parental status, veteran status, source of income, and any other legally protected category in the recruitment, selection, hiring, determination of salary level and benefits, promotion, demotion, layoff, termination, and other terms and conditions of employment.