Nursery Assistant Teacher

Friends’ Central School Overview

Friends’ Central School is an independent, coeducational Quaker day school founded in 1845 and serving approximately 850 students in Nursery through grade 12. Located in the Philadelphia suburbs, the School has two campuses. The Middle & Upper Schools are located just outside of West Philadelphia in Wynnewood, and the Lower School is on our Old Gulph Road campus in the heart of Wynnewood. The Lower School has approximately 270 students.

The exceptional faculty at Friends’ Central offers a curriculum that cultivates the intellectual, spiritual, and ethical growth of our students. Our pedagogy is grounded in continuing revelation, reflection, integrity, and a willingness to accept responsibility. From Nursery to grade 12, our students participate in a process designed to foster creative, critical, and flexible thinking, along with compassion. As they transform from playful children to skilled, self-possessed teenagers, they are always intellectually curious and engaged thinkers. Friends’ Central prepares graduates to succeed in college and in life.

Lower School Nursery Assistant

Our Nature Nursery is a magical place where important lessons about sharing, friendship, math, art, science, and literacy happen in the context of the woods, gardens, pond, stream, fields, and classrooms of our beautiful 18-acre campus. Highly qualified teachers guide our youngest students, beginning at age 2 years and 7 months through their first steps in the Friends’ Central School community. Nursery students play on their own playground and take “field trips” to explore and learn from different facets of our campus. Learning thematically with an integrated approach to academic content areas takes place both in the classroom and outdoors, where an exploration of the natural world – including seed germination, planting, harvesting, and eating vegetables – helps children improve their fine-motor skills and make connections across the curriculum. At Nature Nursery, 70 percent of the learning happens outside. Spread across the week are the “specials,” which include science, art, music, library, and Spanish, as well as “gym & jam,” where students explore the gym and its equipment to a background of music.

Friends’ Central School seeks a Lower School Nursery Assistant for a full-time position beginning August 2024. Ideal candidates will demonstrate knowledge of and experience in hands-on and integrated learning; be highly motivated, hard-working, collaborative, and flexible; demonstrate a desire to learn; show initiative; and have a sense of humor. This position is a 10-month, exempt position and will be under the supervision of the Lower School Assistant Principal.

Essential functions of the role include:

• Collaborate with lead teachers with daily classroom and outdoor routines and activities
• Plan lessons and facilitate small group learning in partnership with Lead Teacher
• Assisting lead classroom teachers to set up, maintain, and clean up the classroom at the start and end of each year and each day
• Supervise student transitions within and outside of the classroom
• Support the healthy social and emotional development of each child
• Develop positive working relationships with students and their families
• Assisting with student personal needs as needed (bathroom, etc.)
• Supervise recess and provide lunch oversight with the grade-level team
• Assist the Lead Teacher in preparing for conferences and in the writing of progress reports
• Attend faculty meetings and professional development days
• Participating in extra duties either before or after school as needed; other duties as assigned

Physical requirements:

Our Nature Nursery Program spends most of its time outdoors. This position requires candidates to do extensive amounts of walking outside, in addition to being outdoors in every type of weather, including the cold and rain. This role also requires carrying supplies outdoors and around campus, helping children physically navigate the space and terrain of campus, and being able to pick children up, if necessary.

Ideal candidates will:

• Demonstrate an active and earnest commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, including anti-bias and anti-racist practices
• Possess the willingness to intentionally partner with colleagues
• Show interest in learning about thematic teaching
• Exude the mindset of a lifelong learner
• Have an interest in Quaker education

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in progress or earned in a related field
• A passion for teaching and learning
• A desire to work with young children

Please apply here. The application will ask for a resume, cover letter, and three professional references. All applications should be completed by April 30, 2024.

Friends’ Central School seeks candidates with a commitment to fostering an inclusive learning community, who will address issues of diversity, as well as enhance the Philosophy of Inclusivity and Awareness articulated in our Diversity Statement.