Position Overview: The Red Oaks School, a Pre K-8, independent school in Morristown, NJ, is seeking a dedicated and compassionate Early Childhood Classroom Aide to support the daily operations of our Montessori classroom (ages 3-6). The Classroom Aide will assist the lead teachers in creating a nurturing, safe, and organized environment for young children. Key responsibilities include helping with classroom lunch setup and cleanup, supervising children during outdoor play, assisting with snack and nap routines, and providing comfort and care as needed.
Key Responsibilities:
Classroom Support: Assist the lead teacher with preparing and maintaining the classroom environment, including setting up and cleaning up for activities, snacks, lunch, and nap times. Model appropriate social behavior and manners.
Snack & Meal Time: Assist students with setting up snacks and meals. Support children in developing self-care and independence during these routines. Ensure tables are properly clean and hygienic before and after lunch.
Nap Time Assistance: Assist students with preparing the nap space (taking out mats and putting on sheets). Create a calm and soothing atmosphere for napping children, comfort children who may have difficulty settling, and supervise them during rest periods.
Playground Supervision: Ensure the safety and well-being of children during outdoor playtime while promoting cooperative play and encouraging respectful behavior.
Child Escort: Accompany children to the restroom or hallway when needed, ensuring they feel comfortable and secure during transitions. Accompany the 3-4 year olds to Spanish and stay to supervise/escort/assist for the thirty-minute lesson.
Emotional Support: Provide gentle care, reassurance, and comfort to children as needed, especially during transitions or if they are upset.
General Tidying: Help maintain a clean, organized, and safe learning environment by tidying up materials, sweeping, wiping tables, and sanitizing surfaces.
Schedule: This is a part-time position (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.). Applicants must be available during regular school hours and for occasional school events or meetings.
This is an outstanding opportunity for someone interested in working with children, considering a career in education, or looking for part-time hours. Please submit a cover letter, resume, and contact information for three professional references to EarlyChildhood@RedOaksSchool.org. Kindly reference the job title in the subject line of your email. No phone calls, please. To learn more about our school and our mission, visit us on the web at www.RedOaksSchool.org.
Qualifications:
Experience working with young children in a school or childcare setting, preferably in a Montessori environment.
Patience, warmth, and a caring demeanor, with the ability to comfort and care for young children.
Ability to work collaboratively with the lead teacher and other staff members.
Strong communication skills, with the ability to interact effectively with children, parents, and colleagues.
Physical Requirements:
Ability to move and lift light furniture and classroom materials.
Ability to sit on the floor and engage with children at their level.
Ability to work both indoors and outdoors in various weather conditions.
Founded in 1965, the mission of Red Oaks School is to develop each child's gifts by inspiring personal and intellectual growth. The school offers a dynamic curriculum that is based on core Montessori principles and the International Baccalaureate Program. Serving students age three years old to 8th grade, the Red Oaks School provides a culturally diverse environment in which students develop a love of learning, a strong social conscience, and a spirit of discovery as they pursue their full academic and personal potential. The student to teacher ratio is 9:1, 60% of the faculty have advanced degrees. Approximately 50% of the Red Oaks families originated from outside of the U.S. and speak another language at home.
While the elementary school is based on Maria Montessori's methodology, the middle school is an accredited International Baccalaureate Middle Years School.
At Red Oaks, the school likes to highlight that they hold an inch wide and a mile deep perspective as a guiding principle for curriculum design. Our challenging curriculum is enhanced and enriched by current and ever-evolving validated research in education and child development. It is designed to help students c...ultivate superior academic and life skills, aiming high while differentiating for different learning styles and readiness. The studies are interdisciplinary, hands-on, experiential, open-ended, and presented in an environment of respect and appreciation. Red Oaks provides education that is dynamic, progressive, and embraces best practices in education. Red Oaks emphasizes the arts. Studio art, music, theater and dance are all essential pieces to understanding of our arts program.
Red Oaks explicitly teaches executive and social-emotional skills. As technology and knowledge grow exponentially, a relevant education must teach students how to grapple with presently unforeseeable challenges; helping students to decode the process of how to learn and how to think. At Red Oaks, the students delve deeply into areas of inquiry, learning what questions to ask and how to think critically, analytically, and creatively. They become thinkers, problem-solvers, and doers. From Primary through Middle School, the intent is to foster independence and build the academic confidence that will help students meet ever increasing performance and achievement levels required of older students.
Social well-being is a genuine focus at Red Oaks. We educate the whole child. We believe that emotional, physical, and social functioning are integrally related to academic performance and intellectual growth. At every level, the faculty is attuned to the parameters of cognitive, social and emotional development, and they know students individually.
Red Oaks boats a dynamic enrichment program, offering after school programs, workshops, and family events. The school values community participation and engaging the students, families, faculty and staff in a variety of co-curricular events and activities.
