Forest Fairy | Pre-K Teacher

Are you a little silly? Do you espouse a personal practice of living in the moment? Can you experience child-like wonder? Do you want to work outdoors most of the time?

Fairy Forest is a Sanctuary for Childhood. We seek to provide trusted, compassionate care for children ages 3-5 while scaffolding play experiences which encourage children to climb whichever mountains they want to climb.

Our teachers function as guides who fully integrate into the culture and intersubjective realities of the classroom. We see on-ramps for new learnings, burgeoning passions and talents and use our resources to the best of our ability to create play laboratories to allow children to dive further into their interests.

Previous experience in early education could help, or it could hurt. This is not a traditional classroom with a teacher leading a mandatory circle time dispensing information. Direct instruction and rote learning are considered to be failures of imagination.

Our facility is located in a rural forest in Saco, Maine. Our buildings are domed yurts which allow staff and children to feel fully immersed in nature even when we are indoors. These are specially designed yurts that are engineered to create a safe and comfortable sanctuary for learning while providing all of the necessary tools, learning materials, and comforts of a modern teaching facility.

Childhood and the magic of play have been systemically devalued for most of modern American history as rigid pedagogies took the place of traditional tribe and community-based childcare. We are unapologetically play based, this means no mandated writing practice, no standardized testing, no adult-created/adult-driven tasks or crafting projects that test children’s ability to follow rules and fall-in-line at the expense of deep child-directed learning.

Our fall term starts September 3rd 2024. Prospective employees must be able to start on this date.

A cover letter expressing what led you to apply for this position would be greatly appreciated.

A successful applicant will:

• Have the well-practiced ability to connect with their inner child
• Be a little silly
• Be unapologetically queer friendly
• Genuinely enjoy spending time with young children
• Have some sort of background working with children either in childcare, public or private school, online ed, summer camps, aftercare programs, etc. and be able to explain how that experience pertains to this opportunity
• Have confidence in their abilities
• Possess superhuman patience and empathy
• Have a solid understanding of their self-care routine necessary to support this type of work
• Can confidently, effectively, and compassionately communicate with parents about their children
• Have the ability to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for families of all stripes
• Want to make early childhood education a long term career choice or a significant stop on their journey
• Love being out in the woods
• Understand that ongoing training of at least 30 hours per year is a state mandated requirement for early childhood educators
• Have already completed or have the ability to complete Maine Roads to Quality Health and Safety Training and Mandatory Reporter training to employment
• Pass a state criminal background check prior to employment
• Have already completed or be willing to complete pediatric and adult CPR/First Aid course
• Willingness to attend monthly staff meetings
• Be passionate about creating an inclusive environment for families of all shapes, sizes, and configurations
• Be reliable. Children deserve predictability and stability

Pay and Benefits:

• Fairy Forest pledges to always pay full-time employees within the top 15% of the national pay range for early childhood educators. Fairy Forest also commits to an annual pay increase of 3% per year OR an increase that reflects an increase in the top 15% of wages nationally whichever is larger.
• Fairy Forest is committed to salary transparency, being contractually obligated to keep your salary a secret benefits only the employer.
• We all do the same important work. This means that all employees - including the director - are paid $19.61 per hour - this is not inclusive of the stipend offered by the State of Maine. The amount received from the state stipend program is not controlled by Fairy Forest. This means that a full-time employee who works 40 hours per week will make the following amounts per year depending on their rank on the Maine Roads to Quality Career Lattice:
• Levels 1-4: $44,088.80
• Levels 5-6: $45,768.80
• Levels 7-8: $48,288.80
• 4 weeks of paid vacation per year for scheduled school breaks. These weeks are in the months of February, April, June, and December.
• The best way to ensure that staff and children stay healthy is to make it so that employees are able to take time off without fear of losing income. This is why Fairy Forest offers 5 days of paid sick time per year.
• Fairy Forest will reimburse the full cost of the CDA (Child Development Associates Credential) for any employee interested in earning this credential.
• Fairy Forest employees co-create their schedule along with their co-teachers while keeping in mind the needs of the sanctuary and the children
• Outdoor work environment

***Fairy Forest is a proudly queer owned business. Those who believe that queer folk should not work with children will not find success at Fairy Forest. Recent legal developments across the country criminalizing gender non-conforming people and attacking queer teachers are a threat to queer people everywhere - our business stands firmly in opposition to these cowardly and mean spirited attacks on our human rights.

Job Types: Full-time, Part-time

Pay: $19.61 per hour

Expected hours: 8 – 40 per week

Benefits:

• Flexible schedule
• Paid time off
• Tuition reimbursement

Schedule:

• 4 hour shift
• 8 hour shift
• Monday to Friday
• No weekends

Ability to Commute:

• Saco, ME 04072 (Required)

Ability to Relocate:

• Saco, ME 04072: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person