Teacher Assistant

Educare Lincoln is a collaborative partnership between the Lincoln Public Schools (LPS), University of Nebraska – Lincoln (UNL), Early Head Start (EHS), and the Buffett Early Childhood Fund. The mission of Educare Lincoln is to help young children thrive socially, emotionally, and academically through high-quality early childhood education, and in partnership with their families and the community. The EHS program (ages 6 weeks to 3 years) and the preschool program (ages 3 years to 5 years) promote school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through the provision of evidence-based education, health, nutritional, social, and other services to enrolled children and their families.

The Teacher Assistant works cooperatively with the Lead Teacher to plan and implement the daily education program for the children. The Teacher Assistant assists in ensuring the education program is developmentally appropriate, meeting the individual needs of children as well as program standards of Educare of Lincoln, Sixpence, the Nebraska Department of Education, and Early Head Start. In the absence of the Lead Teacher, the Teacher Assistant takes responsibility for the management of the classroom.

Major responsibilities and key tasks

• Observe, assess, and document each assigned child’s health, skills, behavior, growth, and development.
• Provide opportunities for children to develop positive self-images and experience success.
• Foster positive relationships with all children in the classroom.
• Maintain an attractive and stimulating learning environment and encourage children’s independence and self-selection of activities.
• Ensure that all children are under appropriate supervision and guidance at all times.
• Maintain a clean, safe, and healthy classroom environment.
• Assist with the timely completion of necessary paperwork, including CACFP documentation, developmental assessments, incident reports, etc.
• Assist in the planning and implementation of developmentally appropriate classroom activities that will enhance the social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development of each child.
• Assist in the development of lesson plans with goals, objectives, activities, and outcomes for children and participate in implementing them intentionally.
• Develop effective relationships with parents through regular informal conversations.
• Participate in home visits with each child’s family twice per school year.