Are you an experienced, imaginative, and collaborative early childhood educator who believes that play is children’s work? Do you enjoy listening to young children’s ideas and using their questions to create meaningful learning experiences? Are you excited to be part of a diverse, supportive and talented community? If so, please consider joining our team at Tessellations Children’s Center. We are currently accepting applications for a full-time Teacher/Director of Extended Care position. Successful applicants start December 2023. Depending on your situation, we may also be able to start you earlier. Competitive salary and full benefits available.

Tessellations Children’s Center is a small, play-based school that offers 3-5 year old children ample opportunities for experiential learning, wonder, play, and exploration of the natural world. Our curriculum draws from the Reggio Emilia approach, Piaget’s Constructivist Theory of Learning, and Montessori’s method’s values of self-motivated growth. Our team of highly qualified and experienced early childhood educators support children’s play, development, and learning through developmentally-appropriate practice, project work, nurturing relationships, and thoughtful scaffolding. Our ratio of children to teachers is approximately 6:1. Tessellations Children’s Center is the early childhood arm of Tessellations,  a progressive K-8 non-profit school for gifted learners based in Cupertino, CA. 

If you join our team you will help us grow our program and continue designing and delivering a rich, immersive learning experience. You will be heard, respected, and celebrated for your talents and efforts. You will work with young children who love to learn, engaged parents who are grateful for your work, and supportive colleagues that will help bring out your best.

The Teacher/Director of Extended Care at Tessellations Children’s Center works directly under the supervision of the Director of Preschool. They must love working with young children and families, have a strong educational background in child development and/or early childhood education, and experience in teaching young children. A positive outlook, as well as a growth mindset, is key. 

Primary Responsibilities

• Create child-centered educational experiences in the classroom on a daily basis
• Help create short and long-term projects that follow the children’s interests and passions
• Oversee daily activities
• Hold formal conferences with families twice a year
• Keep anecdotal records of young children
• Write developmental reports on young children
• Create appealing displays of children’s work inside the classroom, through posts on classroom blog, and monthly online newsletters. 
• Write articles for professional journals and/or give professional presentations
• Manage, support and grow a teaching team of 2-8 teachers.

Requirements

• Master's degree in Early Childhood Education or Child Development, or related field. 
• Supervisory training and courses. 
• Demonstrated excellence in supervisory experience. 
• Four years of experience teaching in the field of Early Childhood Education.
• Director’s or Site Supervisor Permit preferred. 
• Experience with team teaching and staff management is desirable.

Special Skills Needed

• Must be flexible: physically and intellectually.
• Frequently stand/walk, grasp lightly/fine manipulation, perform desk-based computer tasks, lift/carry/push/pull objects that weigh up to 40 pounds.
• Sit/kneel/crawl, reach-work above shoulder level, grasp forcefully, use a telephone, writing by hand, sort/file paperwork or parts, scrub/sweep/mop/chop/mix. 
• Possess good visual and auditory acuity. 
• Artistic and musical skills are a strong plus.

Working Conditions

• Work outdoors on a regular basis (possibly during inclement weather). Includes caring for animals and plants.
• Work evenings and weekends.
• May be exposed to noise <80dB TWA, bleach, vomit, or blood. 

About Tessellations

Tessellations is a progressive K-8 non-profit school for gifted learners based in Cupertino, CA. Our mission is to provide challenging experiential education that recognizes and nurtures the individual strengths of gifted learners, empowering them to confidently express who they are and pursue a meaningful life. At Tessellations, community is a core value, as it is the reason our small and mighty school was able to form and thrive despite the global pandemic. Our team consists of passionate, qualified and dedicated staff from diverse backgrounds and includes nationally renowned gifted experts. Our first year was online only. In our second year, we quadrupled in size, and we also added our Nature Campus. We’re in our fourth year with excellent staff and student retention, and extremely high family satisfaction. We moved to a larger campus in order to house our growing population, which will eventually be approximately 320 students in K-8. We’re also launching our preschool in January and our high school in Fall 2024.

Connections working at Tessellations