Teacher - School Age After Care (School Year 23-24 / Fairfax, VA)

Why Work for Wonders Early Learning + Extended Day?

Play isn't just fun, It's fundamental! Children need playtime, it is crucial for healthy development. Children learn about the world by exploring ideas, manipulating objects, investigating creative materials, and problem-solving with others. Using imagination and creativity, children take on new roles and test new concepts. Wonders teachers use observation and planning to create learning experiences that are intentional and provide meaningful context for children to practice skills and express ideas.

Join the Wonders family of caring, dedicated, and fun educators!

About Wonders

Our Mission - To create and advance high quality, diverse educational communities that teach children the foundations of life-long learning and social responsibility.

Since our inception in 1976, our goal has been to provide non-profit, quality child care to working families. Over the years, we have grown from a single center in the basement of All Saint's Church in Chevy Chase, Maryland to multiple accredited early learning, extended day, and summer camp programs across the DC Metropolitan Region.

Our programs support today's workforce, while growing the workforce of tomorrow.

Benefits & Compensation

Our benefits package includes paid time off, holidays, winter break, medical with HRA, dental, vision, life insurance, disability, critical illness, accident insurance, 403(b) retirement savings plan, Wonders tuition discounts, and professional development training. Benefits eligibility is dependent on job type status.

We provide paid pre-employment background checks, fingerprinting, medical exams, & drug screens as well as paid New Hire Orientation.

Wonders values its educators and leaders and we invest in our workforce by prioritizing compensation and nurturing meaningful careers. Our educators are regularly engaged in efforts towards continuous improvement in their skills and knowledge in the classroom. Approximately 80% of our annual budget is directed to staff compensation.

Job Summary

The Extended Day (School Age) Teacher plays a dynamic role in providing quality child care services in our school-age programs. The Extended Day Teacher is a positive model, and stimulates creative thought processes, provides hands-on experiences, and promotes emotional development for children.

Teamwork is a critical component of the Extended Day Teacher position. Extended Day Teachers regularly meet with their team, other staff and Program Director to develop programs that follow the Wonders Extended Day Curriculum and promote the Wonders philosophy and ideals.

Essential Functions

• Actively plan learning activities that are balanced in all areas and include: active/quiet, long/short, group/individual, cognitive/physical, large group/small group and child initiated/teacher directed. Attention is given to the children's ideas and curiosities in influencing the direction of daily activities.
• Implement policies, procedures, and practices in an organized and thorough manner.
• Actively participate, contribute, and cooperate in team planning sessions with Program Director and team.
• Meet with your team to lead planning and implementation of activities that are age-appropriate, process-oriented, and encourage divergent thinking, creativity, and problem-solving, based on Wonders extended day curriculum, philosophy and mission.
• Maintain open communication with Program Director regarding children, families, and team members.
• Assist in orientating and training new team members for center responsibilities.
• Share teaching responsibilities with all team members and provide clear and objective feedback.
• Plan and participate in special events for children and families.
• Ensure that all spaces used by the program are: physically and emotionally safe / interesting and engaging for children / clean and organized / reflect and support the lives and work of the children present / support children in their understanding of the diversity of our society.
• Develop behavior management strategies based on Wonders policy, with team and Program Director.
• Establish and nurture partnerships with families.
• Communicate with families on a regular basis to: inform them of program curriculum and activities / solicit information about their child's development and family events.
• Participate in accreditation and reaccreditation processes for your site.
• Attend a minimum of 24 hours of staff training yearly.
• Work extended hours on half and full-service days including winter and spring breaks and on early release days.

Core Competencies

• Dependable and detail oriented
• Thrives in a high-pressure environment
• People oriented - enjoys interacting with people and working on group projects
• Adaptable - enjoys doing work that requires frequent shifts in direction
• Innovative - prefers working in unconventional ways or on tasks that require creativity

Qualifications

• Minimum 2 years' experience working with children in an educational, recreational, or camp setting.
• Minimum of high school diploma or equivalent is required. BA or AA in Education or related field is preferred.
• Coursework must include a minimum of 6 semester or 90 clock hours or the equivalent of approved school-age coursework in child development and curriculum planning.
• If no college courses taken for credit, at least 9 clock hours of approved training in communicating with staff, parents and the public.
• Are you worried you don't meet all of our qualifications for this position? We still encourage you to apply!

Additional Information

Job Type: Part-Time

Program Length: 10 months - School Year 23-24

Work Schedule: Monday to Friday / ~ 2:00p to 6:00p

Work Location: VA