PURPOSE:

The Lead Teacher role is primarily responsible as a direct service member of the TCDC team. The Lead Teacher’s performance will be measured by their individual child/classroom outcomes, achieving your individual targets/goals, and your contribution to your overall program team/department and your buy-in to the culture of the organization. 

FUNCTIONS

Lead Teachers assume responsibility for planning, implementing, and overseeing all aspects of classroom activities in accordance with Thompson philosophy and policies.

• Provides direct service and supervision at all times to children in their classroom.
• Adapts direct service to meet individual needs within the structure of an overall curriculum, and in cooperation with other staff members.
• Focuses on the physical, cognitive, emotional, social and spiritual needs of the children.
• Prepares appropriate materials, in advance to successfully implement daily plans.
• Implements techniques that enhances the cognitive development of all children in the preschool environment, and that prepares each child with an appropriate level of readiness to meet with school success.
• Coordinates additional evaluations by appropriate specialists and help implement necessary services for preschool children with special needs.
• Helps establish behavior treatment plans in positive collaboration with behavior modification counselors.
• Supervises, guides, and models professional methods, techniques, and behaviors for other staff, parents, and volunteers.
• Supervises Teachers assigned to individual classroom.
• Oversees total quality of the classroom environment, giving careful attention to cleanliness, state of repair, and the availability of stocked expendable items.
• Establishes appropriate and meaningful relationships with parents, guardians, and/or extended family of each child.
• Understands the cultural diversity of children and team members to better serve our families.
• Supervises and maintains child’s record information on a current and timely basis.
• Regularly contributes to center’s communication forms.
• Ability to develop mutually respectful relationships with our children and their families.
• Ability to appropriately intervene to meet the needs of our children and their families and to help our children and their family members gain the skills and confidence to address issues and problems as they take place.
• Ability to work as a partner with other team members.
• Flexibility in job schedule to accommodate needs of the center.
• Perform any other duties that may be required by Administration.
• Ability to use technology to track student assessments and observations effectively
• Can accurately apply NC Foundations, Teaching Strategies Gold, and Creative Curriculum into the lesson plan.

LEADERSHIP PIPELINE VALUES, TIME APPLICATION, AND SKILLS/COMPETENCIES

• At the individual contributor level, the primary work values that should be displayed are getting results through your own personal proficiency, producing high quality professional work, and accepting the organization’s values. 
• The individual contributor’s time application should revolve around daily discipline (achieving deadlines, showing up on time and prepared, managing your own time to ensure they meet your goals). High performing Individual Contributors who are looking to lead someday should look for opportunities to stretch themselves through additional tasks/objectives/opportunities. 
• The primary skills that individual contributors need to focus on is your own personal proficiency, ability to be a team player, building relationships, and effectively utilizing the agency’s tools, processes, and procedures.

Lead Teachers assume responsibility for personal professional development.

• Based on identified needs, assists in the development of personal goals.
• Completes appropriate continuing education requirements based on state or agency requirements.
• Maintains accurate personal professional development file.
• Serves on professional committees.
• Participates in evaluation process.

POSITION SPECIFICATIONS AND EDUCATION FOR LEAD TEACHER POSITION:

 Associates Degree in Early Childhood Education or equivalent and 2 years of experience with Birth-5 years of age. Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education or related field preferred. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome training, knowledge of Environmental Rating Scales and the Division of Child Development and Early Education regulations a plus. 

Physical Requirements

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Physical demands:

While performing the duties of this job, employees are required to walk, sit, use hands to handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; talk and hear. Vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distant vision, color vision, peripheral vision, and depth perception. Employees will perform a wide variety of physical tasks such as standing