Department: Behavioral Health & Wellness

Status: Regular, full-time

Location: Mi Escuelita Therapeutic Preschool

Salary: $26.00 per hour (Without bachelor's degree) | $28.00 per hour (With a bachelor’s degree)

Schedule: Monday – Friday: General operating hours are 8 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Schedule may vary to meet the needs of the program.

# of Openings: 1

Who we are

SBCS (formerly South Bay Community Services) transforms communities to support the well-being and prosperity of children, youth, and families. For more than 50 years, we’ve worked throughout San Diego to provide safe shelter, transitional housing, intervention prevention programs, mental health support, and many other services that meet the ever-changing needs of our communities.

Our organization is dedicated to offering high-quality services and ensuring all services align with the community's needs. To best serve our communities, SBCS partners with various grassroots organizations throughout California to develop innovative strategies that enhance services, empower clients, and ensure that culturally appropriate and trauma-informed care is offered. SBCS provides a wide range of services tailored to meet each client's unique needs. At SBCS, our client-centered approach highlights the importance of respect, empathy, and compassion when interacting with all community members.

As a mission-driven organization, our work is centered around providing exceptional, face-to-face support to our clients and community members to foster trust, accessibility and personal connection that are critical to our mission.

About YOU

You are an advocate and champion of nurturing communities where families can pursue their dreams and fulfill their potential.

You are dedicated to and energized by engaging directly with individuals and communities.

You care deeply about the well-being and prosperity of ALL children and youth throughout San Diego.

You want to become a part of an energetic and effective team, and contribute your expertise, creativity, and insights to a unique role encompassing program management, development, and direct counseling services for at-risk children, adolescents, and families.

About our organization

SBCS is home to a committed team of 470 dedicated employees and volunteers who diligently serve all of San Diego County. Having offered services for 52 years, SBCS is committed to providing hope and support for numerous young children, individuals, and families facing adversity. With an annual budget of $68 million, SBCS continues to be a beacon of assistance in the community.

Competitive and Sustainable Employee Pay Package:

SBCS offers competitive pay and additional benefits for full-time employees, including generous vacation time, holidays, health, vision, dental, flexible spending accounts, an employee assistance program, discount programs, public service forgiveness loan, and an excellent retirement plan with matching contributions.

Program

Mi Escuelita Therapeutic Preschool is designed for young children (2 – 5 years of age) who have been exposed to domestic violence or abuse, helping them heal and begin along the right path for school so that they can enter kindergarten ready to learn and have increased chances of healthy long-term development free from the destructive cycle of abuse.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Under the supervision of the program director, the preschool teacher provides integrated services to help children heal and begin the right path for their continued success in school. Preschool teachers provide trauma informed support within their daily interactions and teaching while supporting their recovery by providing various support services and strategies to improve their wellbeing, safety, and ability to cope and thrive in school. Services will be in keeping with the agency and center goals, mission, and style, provided within a team framework. The teaching staff is responsible for working within the team in developing team goals and objectives, and in meeting those goals and objectives.

Duties:

• Supervise, teach, and oversee a classroom of 24 students, while keeping students safe, and maintaining and adhering to state mandated ratios. Includes ability to supervise up to 12 students while alone.
• Utilize required databases for student tracking of attendance, goals, and developmental progress, such as ETO, Center Track, and Classroom Genius, and any others deemed essential to the classroom operation.
• Effectively track child’s development through the DRDP including regular observations, notation and tracking progress, including fully understanding all key elements of child development.
• Develop weekly lesson plans fully utilizing designated curriculum and considering individual student needs. Lesson plans may need to be entered into required electronic database(s) as well as given to administration on a regular basis.
• Participate in the design and implementation of developmentally age-appropriate curriculum and activities ensuring inclusion of all children.
• Responsible for providing instruction to children individually and in groups.
• Develop goals and objectives consistent with individual student needs in collaboration with the therapist and other support services staff.
• Comply with all Community Care Licensing Regulations and SBCS performance standards.
• Complete individualized assessment and behavior observation reports and adjust strategies and interventions accordingly.
• Work closely with parents, therapists, and other professionals to ensure a holistic approach to each child’s development.
• Respond promptly to hygiene needs of the children including, diaper changing, assisting with toileting, potty training, and teaching basic hygiene skills.
• Maintain accurate and current assessment information noting child’s progress across all developmental domains utilizing anecdotal notes and/ or examples of children’s work.
• Supervise and interact with children during indoor and outdoor play activities to promote student learning.
• Hold three parent/teacher conferences per year to share each child’s progress with parents and/or caregivers.
• Able to strike a balance between effective group collaboration and strong individual motivation.
• Foster social-emotional development and promote positive behavior management techniques.
• Applies therapeutic techniques to address and deescalate challenging behaviors and foster positive social interactions.
• Monitor children’s health, administer basic first aid, and notify management of any incidents.
• Responsible for cleaning and general maintenance of the classrooms.
• Staying up to date on the latest research and best practices in early childhood education and therapeutic techniques.
• Attend all agency required trainings, staff meetings.
• Participate in a variety of professional development training. Such professional development shall be high-quality, and classroom focused to have a positive and lasting impact on classroom instruction.
• As other duties assigned.

Conditions of Employment

• Employment may be conditioned upon satisfactory completion of certain background clearances which may include a Department of Justice criminal background check requiring my fingerprints (Live Scan), Community Care Licensing (CCL), screening through the National Sex Offender Public Website, drug test, tuberculosis (TB) test, and such additional clearances as may be required under the program.

Working Conditions

• Must be able to work with children with various trauma triggers and behavioral diagnoses such as Autism or ADHD.

• Must be willing to obtain a Child Development Teacher’s permit within 60 days of employment
• Must have a minimum of 12 Child Development Units (CDUs) or an Associate’s degree in Child Development, Elementary Education or Early Childhood Education.
• Bachelor’s degree in child development or early childhood education (ECE) highly desirable.
• Must have a minimum of one year of previous experience working with children.
• Must be caring, compassionate and have empathy for children (victims of trauma) that comes across naturally.
• Demonstrates effective verbal and written communication skills, patience, and the ability to implement positive behavior management strategies.
• Must possess basic computer and data entry skills.
• Ability to navigate required databases for student information inputting.
• Ability to work with a diverse population, possess cultural sensitivity, and maintain appropriate boundaries with clients.

Physical Demands

• Position requires to be ability to sit and/or stand for long periods of time for classroom activities.
• Mentally and emotionally: Ability to work under deadlines, various projects and dealing with clients in crisis and difficult situations.
• Stand: Prolonged periods of standing and bending.
• Walking: Moving about on foot.
• Lifting: Ability to lift up to 50 pounds at a time.
• Carrying: Transporting an object, usually holding it in the hands or arms, or on the shoulder
• Pushing: Exerting force upon an object so that the object moves away from the force.
• Pulling: Exerting force upon an object so that the object moves toward the force (includes jerking)
• Climbing: Ascending or descending stairs, using feet and legs or hands and arms. Body agility is emphasized.
• Balancing: Maintaining body equilibrium to prevent falling when walking, standing, crouching.
• Stooping: Prolonged bending body downward and forward by bending spine at the waist, requiring full use of the lower extremities and back muscles.
• Handling: Seizing, holding, grasping, turning, or otherwise working with hand or hands. Fingers are involved only to the extent that they are an extension of the hand.
• Finger Movement: Picking, pinching, or otherwise working primarily with fingers rather than with the whole hand or arm as in handling.
• Talking: Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word. Talking is important for those activities in which workers must impart oral information to clients or to the public, and in those activities in which they must convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other workers accurately, loudly, or quickly.

The statements contained herein describe the scope of the responsibility and essential functions of this position but should not be considered to be an all-inclusive listing of work requirements. Individuals may perform other duties as assigned. Nothing in this job description restricts management’s right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time unless restricted by a negotiated contract.

Accessibility Accommodation

SBCS is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities.

Equal Employment Opportunity

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, parental status, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Equal Opportunity Employer/Program – Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities.

At-Will Employment Status

Please note that all employment with SBCS is at-will, which means your employment may be terminated at any time by you or SBCS, without cause or advance notice. The terms and conditions of any employment may also be modified.