Lead Teacher (Contractual)

Towson University (TU) has earned distinction as both a top 100 public university and one of the nation's great colleges to work for. Located north of Baltimore, TU currently enrolls over 19,000 students and is the second-largest university in the prestigious University System of Maryland. Towson University fosters a climate that is grounded in respect and supports the intellectual and personal growth of the entire university community.

The University Child Care Center (UCCC) provides an early childhood program for children from 2-5 years of age in partnership with the College of Education. The UCCC is seeking a lead teacher for early childhood classrooms who will hold duties in duties of teaching in a variety of classrooms, mentoring internships, supervising student staff, and assistants, as well as, communicating the school philosophy with the University community and families at the Center. The lead teacher will also model a love of the arts and STEM to our early learners through planning and implementing a developmentally appropriate curriculum while maintaining our Montessori/Reggio Emilia inspired environment.

• Develop instruction that is developmentally appropriate to all students within the classroom community. Compose regular communication with families. Assess all students and use project-based curriculum to promote growth of the whole-child and meet them at their level of learning. Create a nurturing yet structured environment for all students, both early learners and college, to explore and learn. Utilize outlined assessment tools to create and update digital documentation of student progress. Utilize the school-wide policy for discipline and maintain confidentiality of every family and student. Follow university protocols for child abuse and state licensing requirements.

• Supervise and mentor student staff. Use supervisory skills to maintain the desired climate of the school. Collaborate and evaluate the performance of staff at the end of each semester. Communicate school policies through emails, meetings, and trainings.  Model best practices as the College of Education define them in a learner-centered educational environment.

• Communicate with families and other agencies regularly. Conduct family conferences 2 - 3 times a year to allow collaboration with teachers and parents to plan and assess the goals for individual learning. Conferences may also be held outside of these times to address specific needs of a student or promote early intervention strategies. Portfolios are maintained to support the planning for the growth of every learner and are used to document such growth.

• Collaborate with other members of the teaching team to create and enforce a vision for the school community. Collaborate with various departments at the University and participate in TU initiatives. Promote the Center within the greater community. Maintain positive relationships with interns in the classrooms through constructive feedback and close communication with professors.

• Participate in all school initiatives, (i.e., garden, internships, art gallery, family reading program, and any other interest programs). 

• Maintain classroom management, considering individual student needs. Become knowledgeable of specific classroom routines and procedures to maintain consistency for students. 

• Maintain CPR & First Aid Certification and stay current MSDE licensing requirements.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree.

• One year of classroom experience.

• 90 + 9 clock hour certification in early childhood curriculum & development and communication or MSDE teacher certificate/approval.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 3 clock hour ADA certification from the Maryland State Department of Education.

• Infant and Toddler certification from the Maryland State Department of Education.

• CPR and First Aid certifications.

• Experience in a lab school setting.

• Hold a background in the arts or STEM.

• Participation in Professional organizations for Early Childhood Education.

Salary & Benefits

$45,000 annually and a contract offers annual leave, holidays, sick days. Contractual employees scheduled to work 30 or more hours per week may be eligible for subsidized health benefits coverage. The position is contingent on funds being available at time of hire. To learn more about our benefits, click here. TU also offers a variety of great perks and discounts, which can be found here. For consideration, please submit a cover letter and resume with your online application. This position will be open for a minimum of 14 days.