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Preschool Teacher

The Growing Place is a non-profit child development center that operates two campuses in Santa Monica — established in 1985 to provide high-quality early education to full-time working families. We are NAEYC accredited and inspired by the Reggio Emilia Approach.

The Co-Lead Teacher is responsible for teaching, learning, observations, documentation, research, and communication within the Growing Place organization. This position requires a candidate to be a critical thinker, reflective, communicative, curious, inclusive, and professional; the candidate knows how to work with children in a developmentally appropriate manner with a social constructivist approach and fulfills the Growing Place’s mission, philosophy, and pedagogy.

To Apply

Email cover letter, resume, and philosophy of education statement to: employment@growingplace.org

Responsibilities include:

The teacher is a partner in learning alongside children.

Collaborate to develop large and small group investigations arising out of the thoughtful reflection of children’s interests and work.
Contribute to observations, planning, and implementation of small group work and other curriculum.
Promote opportunities for creative thinking, skill-building, playful experiences, and meaningful relationships.
Demonstrate a working knowledge of child development ages and stages and constructivist theories.
Communicate effectively and openly with parents, administration, and colleagues.
Create an effective environment for learning through daily provocations, invitations, and intentional presentation of materials.
Advocate for the learning, theories, and ideas of young children and yourself as a teacher through documentation, display, and presentation.
Candidate requirements:

BA in ECE or related field OR BA + 12 ECE units
2 years minimum experience teaching in a quality center with young children
Positive attitude and participation in professional development opportunities, desire to grow and learn
Genuinely enjoys children and families and being engaged with mindful educators

Compensation & Benefits:

Pay begins at $25/hour

403(b) Retirement Plan

Growing Place offers a 403(b) retirement plan through Mutual America to all eligible employees. The school will match 50% of each employee's contribution up to 3%.

Life Insurance

Growing Place pays the full cost of a $25,000 Life and AD&D insurance policy on behalf of each full-time employee.

Medical, Dental, and Vision Benefits

Currently, Growing Place offers both a PPO and an HMO Medical insurace plan through HealthNet as well as Dental & Vision Benefits through Principal Financial of California. Growing Place pays 85% of the individual coverage premium.

Paid Sick Leave

All full-time employees receive 72-hours of Paid Sick Leave (PSL) at the start of each school year (August 1). New full-time employees who start during a school year and all part-time employees accrue PSL at the rate of 1 hour for every 30 worked. PSL is payable after a new employee completes their 90 day introductory period.

Time-off Benefits

Growing Place offers four weeks of paid synchronized vacation for all full-time employees during our winter, spring, and summer break closures. Also, there are 9 national holidays paid to all employees who have completed their introductory period.

Additionally, at the end of each school year, any unused Paid Sick Leave (PSL) is rolled over to the next school year as Paid Time Off (PTO) to be capped at 108 hours.

Professional Development Opportunities

Growing Place is commmitted to lifelong learning. In addition to professional development opportunities that are brought in for staff to experience on campus, Growing Place participates in the West Coast Collaborative in partnership with Reggio Children. Staff have the opportuntity to participate and present at annual WCC conferences. Growing Place also participates in international study tours to places such as Reggio-Emilia, Stolkholm, and more.

Continuing Education

Growing Place will pay for select ECE courses at SMC to ensure our teaching staff has the coursework required to work in a high-quality program. These courses may include ECE 51 The Reggio Approach and ECE 54 Documentation: Making Learning Visible.

Tuition Remission

Growing Place offers regular full-time employees a 50% reduction of tuition and program fees if the employee has worked for GP for more than 2 years, their child is age-eligible (2.5 years), and there is space available in the program.