Center Assistant

Description

This position serves as an assistant to the Center Director/Assistant Center Director and supports various activities including administrative, classroom coverage and general center operations.

Essential Job Duties:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to carry out each essential duty in a satisfactory manner. The job specifications listed below are representative of the education and experience as well as the knowledge, skill and/or ability (KSAs) required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Administration & Secretarial:
Acts as back-up to the center secretary, to complete the following tasks:
•    Provides clerical/administrative support to the Center Director of a Head Start and/or Early Head Start preschool center
•    Composes, or transcribes from rough draft or handwritten notes, correspondence, bulletins, memorandums, and other material.
•    Collects and distributes paperwork to and enrollment forms from parents and review forms to ensure accuracy and completion and then submits to the       Intake Worker(s) daily.
•    Answers telephone to provide information, take messages, or transfer calls in a courteous and pleasant manner.
•    Sorts and distributes incoming/outgoing mail
•    Maintains log of visitors, repairmen, and deliveries made to the center.
•    Maintains electronic calendar of school events and distributes program information to the appropriate staff and/or parents, as directed by the supervisor.
•    Reviews, inputs and compiles in-kind and volunteer forms as received, and submit to designated administrative staff monthly.
•    Enter the daily attendance into ChildPlus, print reports monthly for the vouchers and consecutive absent reports for the Family Advocates.
•    Work closely with the Family Advocates to support receipt of essential paperwork and assist them by entering applications into ChildPlus, or any other information related to children's information including follow up conversations/contacts with parents as they happen throughout the day.
•    Greets visitors to school, determines nature of business, and directs visitors to destination in a Center in a courteous and pleasant manner
•    Maintain inventory and logs for program consumables and non-consumables
•    Submit requisitions for inventory
•    Provide a high level of customer service to visitors, staff, families and children
•    Complete all financial reporting requirements for center operations
•    May act as a designee in the absence of Center Director/Assistant Center with direct communication to superiors
•    Maintain a clean, orderly and organized office environment to support efficient center operations

CLASS™ teacher-child interactions:
•    Provide emotional support through establishing a positive climate, being aware of and responsive to children, and encouraging child expression and autonomy.
•    Use provided strategies for behavior management, such as clear behavior expectations, being proactive and redirecting misbehavior.
•    Foster classroom productivity and maximize learning time, while engaging children with a variety of modalities and materials.
•    Provide instructional support through concept development, fostering children's analysis and reasoning, engaging in feedback loops, and modeling and supporting high-quality language.
•    Strive to maintain high quality in interactions with children by achieving a minimum scoring level of 6-Emotional Support, 6-Classroom Observations and a 3-lnstructional Support during CLASS observations informally and formally within 1 year of employment with FDS.

Learning Environment, Curriculum & Child Assessment:
•    Support Classroom staff in maintaining classroom arrangement, materials and displays are organized and conducive to children's learning and consistently meet expectations in the Education Department Standard Operating Procedures
•    Maintain a clean and safe environment that is conducive to keeping children and adults healthy by following all health and hygiene practices, including hand-washing, sanitizing, and universal precautions
•    Maintain an inclusive and welcoming environment for all children and families.
•    Know and understand Family Development Services -Head Start [company's] School Readiness Goals and strive to help all children achieve them
•    Provide classroom experiences that are developmentally, linguistically, culturally and age-appropriate for the children served.
•    Establish and maintain a safe, healthy learning environment, including full supervision of children at all times, in accordance with Head Start and childcare licensing requirements.
•    Serve meals and snacks in the appropriate manner to children
•    Cultivate and maintain a positive working relationship with co-workers
•    Practice and maintain active supervision at all times for all children in your care and support of culture of keeping children safe
•    Support Preschool Teach in Implementing Family Development Services -Head Start chosen curriculum with fidelity by providing developmentally appropriate activities, opportunities and experiences in the classroom which align with the age and stage of each child. , being aware of the big ideas while also following all assigned guidance and resources.
•    Support classroom staff in implementing small-group activities, read-alouds, circle time, and other curriculum components.
•    Provide children with a consistent classroom routine and facilitate all parts of the routine to support child learning.
•    Interact with children intentionally throughout the day to provide differentiated support.
 
General Center Support
•    Helps Center Director/Assistant Center Director with meeting coordination, paperwork/report preparation, monitoring inventory, and special projects related to center operations, as needed.
•    Assist in serving meals and refreshments to children and regulating rest periods.
•    Assist with cleaning rooms/equipment, when needed, and reports any unsafe or hazardous conditions to the Assistant/Center Director.
•    Helps Center Director/Assistant Center Director with meeting coordination, paperwork/report preparation, monitoring inventory, and special projects related to center operations, as needed.
•      Participates in games, reads to children, and helps regular classroom staff with implementation of developmentally appropriate classroom activities.

Qualifications

Education and/or Experience:
1.    At a minimum, a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential or a state awarded certificate that meets or exceeds the requirements for a CDA credential, are enrolled in a program that will lead to an associate or baccalaureate degree or are enrolled in a CDA credential program to be completed within two years of the time of hire.
2.    Physical exam and background checks are required for this position.
3.    Travel required locally or long-distance up to 10% of the time for work-related meetings and functions.
4.    Must have a valid driver's license and reliable transportation.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities:
•    Knowledge of the health and safety licensing requirements for schools and/or childcare centers.
•    Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing, in a number of forums
•    Ability to multitask, work independently, efficiently organize and communicate effectively with off-site supervisors
•    Demonstrated computer literacy skills, using MS Office applications, other programmatic software and other basic data systems including internet navigation.
•    Must be honest, dependable and able to meet deadlines.
•    Self-motivated and able to work independently.

Physical Requirements:
•    Ability to understand and communicate proficiently verbally and in writing in English
•    Ability to exert a minimum of 50 lbs of force to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects
•    unassisted
•    Ability to move quickly in the event of an emergency
•    Ability to sit most of the time with some bending and reaching.
•    Ability to stand, walk, and bend periodically.
•    Ability to engage in repetitive movement of wrists, hands, and fingers - typing and/or writing.
•    Ability to work frequently at close visual range (i.e. preparing and analyzing data and figures, accounting, transcription, computer terminal, extensive reading).
 
•    Exposure to Work Hazards: loud noises, work closely and personally with public to complete job tasks; exposure to various cleaning and sanitizing agents

Work Environment:
•    Family Development Services requires all staff members to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of employment. We want to create the safest workplace possible and protect children and families. This is also necessary in order to comply with President Biden's mandated vaccination guidance for all Head Start/Early Head Start programs. Candidates who are selected for this position will have to meet the COVID-19 vaccination condition of employment.
•    Work is generally performed in an office environment.
•    Noise level in the work environment is moderate to occasionally loud (examples: business office with computers and printers, light to moderate traffic, human voices).
•    Standard office equipment generally used includes:

• Telephone
• Personal Computer (monitor, keyboard, and mouse) or Tablet
• Printer/Photocopy Machine
• Calculator
• Fax Machine

•    May be required to operate a motor vehicle during the course of duties.

We are an equal opportunity employer committed to creating a diverse and healthy workplace.