The Early Childhood Nap and Aftercare Teacher is responsible for providing a nurturing and supportive environment for young children during nap time and aftercare. This role includes supervising and caring for children, ensuring their safety, and engaging them in developmentally appropriate activities. The teacher will create a calm, restful atmosphere for nap time and a warm, engaging environment for aftercare, following Waldorf educational principles.
Authority
CWS EC Nap and Aftercare Teachers have the authority to:
- Develop and implement a nap and aftercare schedule that aligns with Waldorf principles.
- Supervise and care for children during nap time and aftercare, ensuring their well-being.
- Maintain a safe and organized environment, ensuring all materials are properly used and stored.
- Participate in school events, festivals, and faculty meetings as needed.
- Communicate effectively with parents and guardians of students about nap and aftercare information and regarding any incidents that occur during nap and aftercare.
- Communicate effectively with the Playgarden Lead Teachers regarding the needs and progress of the children.
Boundaries & Limitations:
- Major decisions regarding curriculum, discipline, and communication with parents are to be made by the Playgarden Lead Teacher.
- The nap and aftercare teacher should consult with the Playgarden Lead Teachers before making significant changes to classroom routines or activities.
- Follow school policies and guidelines.
- Maintain the confidentiality of all student information and sensitive matters discussed within the classroom and school community.
- Refer any parental concerns or sensitive issues to the Playgarden Lead Teachers.
Areas of Responsibility
Teaching Responsibilities
- Set up the nap room daily upon arrival and prepare the room to ensure a calm and restful environment for nap time.
- Help with lunchtime clean up and playground supervision.
- Assist teacher in the transition between children’s lunch and recess.
- Receive the children from recess into the nap room and settle them onto their cots
- From 1:45-2:45 the children are quietly resting or sleeping on their cots while the nap teacher facilitates the proper environment. The lead teacher will recommend some appropriate stories and music to help fulfill this.
- Warmly greet parents who arrive at dismissal.
- Ensure that cots are properly stored and the room is left according to the Playgarden Lead teacher’s wishes
- Before the start of the school year, label cots with children’s names and ensure cots and sheets are clean and in working order
- Provide engaging, developmentally appropriate activities for aftercare.
- Foster a nurturing and supportive atmosphere, attending to children’s emotional and physical needs.
- Encourage positive social interactions and help children develop interpersonal skills.
- Provide childcare as needed for parent-teacher conference days.
Administrative Responsibilities
- Use school issued email address for regular and responsive school correspondence.
- Be familiar with school policies and procedures as outlined in the Faculty Handbook.
- Be familiar with Virginia Standards for Licensed Day Care Centers.
- Stay up-to-date with required training, including Red Cross/CPR First Aid certification/Medicine Administration training, mandated reporter training, etc.
- Maintain a working knowledge of the School’s Safety Plan and the emergency procedures contained therein.
- Maintain accurate records of student attendance and any incidents or concerns.
- Communicate with parents about their child’s nap and aftercare experiences.
- Review and keep a notebook of children’s emergency and dismissal forms as well as the list of children who have health concerns (allergies, medical conditions etc.)
- Check with main office at 2:45pm to see if any additional children have been added onto the daily aftercare list and see if there is any important information pertaining to aftercare that day.
- Keep the aftercare supplies in good working condition. Order supplies as needed.
- Keep a daily record of the times at which children are picked-up with the parent/guardian’s signature to turn into the accounts manager weekly.
- Engage in ongoing professional development to stay current with best practices in early childhood education.
- Summer responsibilities
- Attend Graduation in June
- Attend orientation tea the day before school starts
- Attend faculty work days in June and August
- Attend staff orientation meetings (logistics, playground boundaries, etc.)
- Assist Lead Teacher with break-down and set-up of classroom (during regular work hours for Faculty Work days in June and August)
Accountability
- Reports to the Program Director
- Participate in regular performance evaluations and feedback sessions.
- Nap and aftercare teachers shall complete annually a minimum of 24 hours of training appropriate to the age of children in care. Hourly employees are compensated at their hourly rate for professional development.
- Ensure compliance with all school policies and educational standards.
Belongs to: Full Faculty, Early Childhood Department
Hired/ Fired/ Evaluated by: School Director
Meeting Responsibilities
- August and June Work week meetings
Qualifications and Skills
- Education and Certification:
- High school diploma; related college-level course work preferred
- Waldorf early childhood training certificate, or willingness to develop a plan for study of Waldorf early childhood pedagogy
- Experience:
- Related work with children, preferably in a classroom setting
- Study of Waldorf pedagogy and study of anthroposophy
- Skills:
- Works well with children
- Good communication skills
- Calm, gentle manner
- Well-organized, efficient
- Works cooperatively in groups
- Proficiency in handwork (knitting, sewing, etc.) preferred
- Musical ability, especially singing
- Reliability and punctuality
- Ability to lift up to 40 pounds.
- Willingness to work out of Anthroposophy
Work Hours: EC Nap and Aftercare Teachers work Monday through Friday from 10:00am – 5:45pm.
Remuneration:
- Base Salary:
- Tuition Remission: 50% remission for 1 child for year one, increases by 10% each year of employment up to 90% (incremental increase to remission does not apply to Early Childhood students)
- Leave/Sick Days: 6 days. Hourly employees are regularly compensated during school closures, excluding scheduled holidays.
Charlottesville Waldorf School does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, age, color, CWS offers a comprehensive and supportive mentoring program for all of its new teachers and administrators and is an equal opportunity employer. We do not exclude anyone on the basis of race, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, or sexual orientation.