LEAD INFANT & TODDLER TEACHER

LEAD INFANT & TODDLER TEACHER

Sunny Days Daycare LLC

181 Winthrop St., Winthrop, MA 02152

Pay: $27.00 per hour

Schedule: Full-time, Monday through Friday

Employment classification: Hourly, non-exempt

Estimated annual pay: Approximately $56,160 at 40 hours per week, before overtime and deductions

ABOUT SUNNY DAYS

Sunny Days Daycare is a privately owned, Massachusetts EEC-licensed child care center serving infants and toddlers from approximately 3 months to 3 years old.

We are seeking an experienced, caring, and dependable Lead Infant & Toddler Teacher to create a safe, nurturing, and engaging environment where young children can learn through play, exploration, responsive care, and secure relationships.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Lead Teacher is the educational and day-to-day leader of an assigned infant or toddler classroom.

In this role, you will plan developmentally appropriate, play-based learning experiences; maintain active supervision and EEC compliance; support children’s individual routines and developmental needs; build strong partnerships with families; and guide Assistant Teachers and classroom support staff.

Child safety, responsive caregiving, active supervision, and high-quality early learning experiences are our highest priorities.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Plan, document, and implement developmentally appropriate, play-based learning experiences for infants and toddlers.

• Create a predictable but flexible daily routine that responds to children’s individual feeding, sleeping, diapering, toileting, comfort, and developmental needs.

• Provide meaningful opportunities for sensory exploration, language development, music, movement, outdoor play, early problem-solving, and social-emotional development.

• Observe children and maintain objective developmental notes, work samples, and other required documentation.

• Use observations to individualize activities, adapt classroom materials, and guide curriculum planning.

• Support IFSP goals, reasonable classroom adaptations, referrals, and family conferences within the appropriate professional scope.

• Maintain required staff-to-child ratios and group sizes while knowing the identity and location of every child.

• Complete accurate attendance and name-to-face counts and position classroom staff to see and hear the children in their care.

• Follow all classroom transition, playground, sleep, feeding, diapering, toileting, and emergency supervision procedures.

• Provide warm and respectful assistance with bottles, meals, diapering, toileting, handwashing, dressing, rest, comfort, and transitions.

• Follow individual feeding and health plans, allergy requirements, sanitation procedures, and all infant safe-sleep requirements.

• Maintain direct physical supervision during diapering and keep at least one hand on a child when the child is on an elevated changing surface.

• Build responsive relationships by recognizing and responding appropriately to children’s cues, needs, interests, and communication.

• Use positive, developmentally appropriate guidance to support emotional regulation, early communication, independence, and healthy peer relationships.

• Complete daily classroom safety checks and maintain a clean, organized, welcoming, and age-appropriate environment.

• Clean and sanitize toys, equipment, changing areas, feeding areas, and classroom surfaces according to required procedures.

• Follow all allergy, medication, illness-exclusion, infection-control, food-safety, injury, emergency, and evacuation procedures.

• Promptly document and report incidents, injuries, illnesses, hazards, and unusual events.

• Welcome families and provide accurate daily updates through Brightwheel or another approved communication system.

• Communicate professionally with families about feeding, sleep, diapering, toileting, classroom activities, learning, and development.

• Participate in family conferences while protecting confidentiality and promptly referring significant concerns, complaints, or safety matters to the Director.

• Set clear classroom expectations and organize daily staff responsibilities and coverage.

• Coach and model best practices for Assistant Teachers, substitutes, interns, and volunteers.

• Foster a respectful, supportive, and accountable classroom team culture.

• Maintain complete and timely classroom records, including attendance, lesson plans, observations, feeding, bottles, diapering, toileting, sleep, medication, incidents, injuries, cleaning, allergies, and health information.

• Participate in EEC visits, staff meetings, training, quality-improvement initiatives, emergency drills, tours, special events, and opening or closing duties.

• Fulfill all responsibilities as a mandated reporter, including immediately reporting suspected child abuse or neglect as required by Massachusetts law.

• Protect confidential child, family, employee, and business information and follow all policies concerning approved systems, photography, social media, and credential security.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Must be at least 21 years old.

• Current Massachusetts EEC Lead Teacher certification or verified EEC-recognized Lead Teacher qualification for infant and toddler care.

• High school diploma or GED required.

• Qualifying early childhood education coursework, credentials, degree, and supervised experience documented through official transcripts, certificates, and supervisor verification.

• Demonstrated ability to lead an infant or toddler classroom and implement developmentally appropriate, play-based learning experiences.

• Strong understanding of infant and toddler development, responsive caregiving, active supervision, positive guidance, safe sleep, sanitation, and health and safety procedures.

• Ability to guide other educators and organize classroom responsibilities effectively.

• Ability to observe and document children’s development and communicate professionally with families.

• Current EEC-compliant pediatric First Aid and CPR certification, including a hands-on skills demonstration.

• Reliable attendance, punctuality, patience, sound judgment, and respect for confidentiality.

• Ability to respond calmly and effectively to emergencies and changing classroom needs.

EEC AND EMPLOYMENT REQUIREMENTS

Employment and continued child-facing assignments are subject to all applicable Massachusetts EEC, legal, and Sunny Days requirements. These include:

• Obtaining and maintaining an acceptable EEC Background Record Check and suitability determination.

• Completing required EEC Essentials and annual refresher training.

• Maintaining current, EEC-approved pediatric First Aid and CPR certification.

• Maintaining required EEC Professional Qualifications Registry and StrongStart records.

• Completing Sunny Days’ documented employee orientation.

• Completing required annual professional development.

• Providing required physical-examination and immunization documentation or a legally recognized exemption.

• Completing mandated-reporter, child-protection, emergency-preparedness, infection-control, allergy-response, safe-sleep, nutrition, food-safety, and other applicable health and safety training.

• Completing additional training and authorization before administering medication, transporting children, or performing other specially regulated duties.

SCHEDULE AND PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• This is a full-time, Monday-through-Friday position with an opening, middle, or closing shift scheduled within the center’s operating hours.

• Occasional schedule adjustments may be required for meetings, training, family events, inspections, or emergency coverage.

• Overtime must be authorized in advance and will be paid as required by law.

• The position regularly involves standing, walking, sitting on the floor, bending, kneeling, squatting, reaching, pushing, pulling, and moving quickly.

• Team members must be able to lift and carry children or classroom materials weighing up to approximately 40 pounds, with or without reasonable accommodation.

• The role includes indoor and outdoor activities in varying weather conditions.

• Team members must be able to perform the visual, auditory, communication, mobility, and emergency-response functions required for active child supervision, with reasonable accommodation where applicable.

EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION

This is a full-time, hourly, non-exempt, at-will position. Benefits for eligible full-time employees are governed by applicable plan documents and Sunny Days policies.

Sunny Days Daycare is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are made without unlawful discrimination or retaliation based on any status protected by federal, Massachusetts, or local law.

Reasonable accommodations are available to qualified applicants and employees as required by law.

If you are an experienced infant and toddler educator who is passionate about creating a safe, nurturing, and engaging environment for young children, we would love to hear from you.