ABOUT THE ROLE
We believe deeply in the importance of supporting children and their families before they start school. As such, our early childhood programs are an important part of our model and incorporate programming elements for the entire family. This individual will be exceptionally skilled at building trusted relationships through group-based programming with parents and families of toddlers and preschoolers. The role is mission critical to delivering upon The Primary School’s innovative model.
Responsibilities
- Support enrollment of incoming cohorts. This includes supporting information sessions as needed, collecting enrollment forms and meeting 1:1 or in small groups with families to answer questions and/or provide support to complete paperwork.
- Partner with parents to complete evidence-based developmental questionnaires, such as the ASQ-3 and ASQ:SE 2.
- Share developmental screening information with the child’s medical home.
- Facilitate Children’s Circles in partnership with the Parent Coach and other team members.
- Incorporate the findings and results of screening and observation tools to develop parent-child activities that will enhance the parent-child relationship, strengthen child development and increase participants knowledge and awareness of her child’s physical, emotional and psychological developmental needs and accomplishments.
- In partnership with the family, make referrals to external service providers for further evaluation and/or services, this includes following up with families and providers as needed to ensure that children receive the necessary evaluation(s) and support. Identify and document gaps and barriers to accessing services.
- Participate in and contribute to the universal activities of the 0-3 experience at The Primary School.
- Implement language playgroups focused on nurturing the parent-child attachment relationship, demonstrating evidence-based parenting techniques, and building community between families.
- Co-facilitate parent wellness coaching groups.
- While a curriculum will be provided, be responsible for its implementation with expectations of personalization for families or different groups.
- Discern gaps in parenting skill that impact the attachment relationship and model for parents new behaviors to strengthen their bond with their child and child’s social-emotional learning
- Deliver group-based parenting interventions
- Use authentic assessment methods to observe and document children’s developmental progress and set goals and next steps with family members
- Incorporate the findings and results of screening and observation tools to develop parent-child activities that will enhance the parent-child relationship, strengthen child development and increase participants knowledge and awareness of her child’s physical, emotional and psychological developmental needs and accomplishments.
- Model for parents high impact language development strategies through songs, stories and talking with children
- Coordinate support for families with other Primary School team members and community organizations by maintaining well-documented and organized information
- Provide training to Primary School parent wellness coaches with varying levels of child development expertise
- Help develop and provide feedback on technology that can support parents in understanding healthy child development
- As needed, conduct home visiting interventions for families in need of additional, personalized support.
- Attend trainings relevant to parent education and/or playgroup curriculum and share new learnings with TPS staff
- Participate in design, evaluation, and refinement of all of the above programs and services.
- Support with organizing and participating in family events including but not limited community nights and other events.
- Develop and maintain collaborative relationships with internal and external partners.
- Maintain accurate and up-to-date records.
- Ensure compliance with applicable federal and state HIPAA regulations and guidelines.
- Other duties consistent with the role may be required and/or requested by the manager, for example: creating a monthly family newsletter, visuals, and other materials to support children and caregivers at home and in groups.
ABOUT YOU
Professional skills + experience
- You have at least three years of experience in infant and early childhood mental health or early childhood development, focusing on the relationships between young children and their adult caregivers
- You have experience and interest in working with preschool-aged children and leading preschool readiness groups for children up to 3 years of age
- You have experience leading group-based parent education or playgroups for parents
- You have community outreach experience supporting high risk families and children with socio-emotional or developmental needs
- You value the importance of the parent as the child’s first teacher
- You are knowledgeable of birth to three early learning standards and developmental milestones
- You have experience assessing the growth and development of infants and toddlers
- You are a strong communicator and feel comfortable leading and facilitating playgroups with positive energy
- You coach families and advocate for others in a way that is compassionate, culturally-responsive, strengths-based and non-judgmental
- You are able to balance multiple priorities - meeting with families, preparing for playgroups, entering data - gracefully and with practiced personal organization and time management
- You are a natural problem solver, fixer and finder of resources; in moments of tension, you defuse and resolve conflict
- You are bilingual
Personal qualities
- You feel confident in leading playgroups and coaching families that speak different languages through the use of a translator.
- You are flexible with your schedule and understand that this work needs to meet the availability of our families (i.e., must be available and willing to work nights and some Saturday mornings)
- You are comfortable in ambiguity and environments that change rapidly
- You love collaboration and learning and are excited to work with and learn from all TPS team members, from pre-K to 8 education, to parent coaching, to community engagement
- You believe in the mission of The Primary School and that all children and families are capable of extraordinary things.
A Plus If
- You are an East Bay native and are familiar with East Bay communities and resources.
COMPENSATION
Annual salary range begins at $66,560-$69,979. Compensation is commensurate with qualifications and experience, plus excellent health benefits (health, dental, and vision), 401k retirement plan, flexible spending account (FSA), dependent care FSA, and generous paid time off, including a competitive paid parental leave benefit. TPS will cover 93% of the total premium cost for individual team members in our HMO and PPO plans, and 95% for individual team members in our HDHP plan. TPS also covers 50% of enrolled partners and/or dependents' costs on all three of our medical plans (HMO,PPO, HDHP).
To ensure fair and equitable compensation for all of our employees, The Primary School has a no-negotiation policy on all offers extended. Final offers are determined using role descriptions, job market data, internal parity, and semi-annual benchmarking. We hope that this policy, paired with ongoing transparency in our compensation process, will make TPS a more fair, inclusive, and diverse culture.
