Outdoor Education Preschool Teacher

Outdoor Education Preschool Teacher

Full-Time, Mon-Fri, 8am – 4pm

Salary Range: $52,000 – $86,000

Starting August 2023

 

We inspire joyful learning, honor each child, and build connections to empower all students to make a difference.

We honor and enjoy children’s natural curiosity, competence, and exuberance. Using teams of teachers and educational methods tailored to how children learn best, we connect with our students, build trusting relationships, and make learning relevant, memorable, and fun. Asking not “how smart is the child” but “how is the child smart,” we guide our students to see their full potential, and we equip them to pursue it with passion and purpose. We inspire children to make a difference. We value academic excellence, personal integrity, and community action and encourage our students to become informed, engaged, and ethical global citizens.

At Marin Primary & Middle School, we believe that it’s deep connections-between students, with teachers, and with ideas-that help kids know themselves and push through boundaries in school and in life. Every day we strengthen these connections so our students are able to tackle new ideas and challenges, pursue their goals with optimism and courage, and apply all they learn to the world they’ll inherit.

Serving 320 students in preschool through grade 8, Marin Primary & Middle School’s vibrant learning community is located in the town of Larkspur, just 4.5 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge. Taking advantage of both the beautiful outdoor environment of Marin County and the cultural offerings of metropolitan San Francisco, MP&MS asks its students to Be Connected, Be Curious, and Be Courageous.

At Marin Primary & Middle School we make education meaningful, while encouraging pride in self, respect for others, and enthusiasm for learning.

A Preschool Teacher at Marin Primary & Middle School is first and foremost committed to serving our school mission of treasuring childhood, while teaching as a passionate and creative member of a team of two co-teachers. Tree School is a beloved outdoor program for preschool and kindergarten children, introducing children to Marin’s natural playscapes. Tree School mornings are spent in nearby open spaces or trails, leading groups of children in adventurous exploration. Tree School afternoons are spent on campus with a mixed age preschool group.

The Tree School program ensures that children have the opportunity to find both stimulation and calmness in the woods, and in the open spaces, all at a pace that is often quite different from what is afforded by a traditional school setting. Spending time in nature through the seasons promotes inspiration, as a child observes the ways that the natural environment changes over time. Sometimes understanding comes from nature’s abundance, but it can also come from observing the limitations it imposes. On top of this, there is nothing that helps build cohesiveness quite like an opportunity to have gone out to adventure together as peers, and to then return to campus as a group.

This position entails collaborative planning and shared responsibilities in a supportive working relationship. In addition, the MP&MS team-teaching model is designed to blend teachers’ skills, passions, and talents. Within a developmentally-informed and play-based program, preschool teachers are encouraged and supported to create meaningful experiences for young students. Innovation, flexibility, and a desire to engage in the natural creative energy and learning process of preschoolers are all resonant with the strongest values of our school. Together we celebrate creativity, exploration, emergent curriculum, and the positive development of the whole child. Teachers work together to understand every student from multiple perspectives, to build meaningful relationships with students and their families, maintain high standards, and promote a love of learning.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide for the safety and well-being of all students at all times by maintaining a safe and secure environment in which students can grow in autonomy as they play and learn together.
• Design and implement programs to actively engage students in making connections, solving problems, and thinking independently.
• Create an inviting, organized, and developmentally appropriate learning environment that reflects the learning objectives of the class and age level.
• Teach to individual learning styles and intelligences; assess learning in a variety of ways.
• Build relationships with the students in which each child feels understood, nurtured, and challenged, and within which each child’s emerging identity is respected.
• Create a partnership with parents and share information about the program and their child’s progress through regular written communication
• Create opportunities for children to become increasingly responsible for the many communities in which they live.
• Defend the dignity and worth of each member of the community and create a safe learning environment that fosters respect, understanding, and acceptance of differences; always model appropriate and ethical behavior.
• Collaborate enthusiastically with a team of faculty, staff, administrators, and parents to nurture children both inside and outside the classroom
• Participate actively in faculty meetings and work collaboratively with colleagues on committees and through other means to further the development of the school’s program.
• Pursue professional growth opportunities on an ongoing basis.

Position requirements include but not limited to:

• Strong skills in collaboration, verbal and written communication, use of technology (including proficiency in using the Google Suite for Education, email and photos)
• Outstanding interpersonal skills, including patience, compassion, positivity, discretion and good judgment
• Curiosity about nature, though not necessarily knowledgeable
• Willingness to sing, tell stories, even if not “good” at it initially
• Willingness to change soiled children and help them with relieving themselves in nature
• Preschool teachers must be physically capable, with stamina for many months outside, in inclement weather.
• Must be flexible and able to manage some discomfort (wet/cold/heat) on trails.

Position preferences:

• A minimum of 6 ECE units; basic understanding of early childhood development, with a willingness to learn more
• Previous experience teaching in an early childhood setting
• Bonus skills – crafting with nature materials, musically inclined

Physical Requirements

In the course of a workday in the Marin Primary & Middle School preschool, a teacher should expect to:

• Sit, walk, stand
• Lift and carry up to 50 pounds
• Bend from the neck and waist
• Squat, climb, kneel, crawl
• Twist from the neck and waist
• Withstand exposure to noise, which may be excessive on occasion
• Use both hands for a variety of tasks, including: Pushing, Pulling, Grasping, Fine manipulation, Reaching, both above and below shoulder level, Using a keyboard

In addition:

• Most tasks require visual perception and discrimination.
• Some tasks require oral communications ability.
• Some tasks require the ability to perceive and discriminate sounds.

The frequency with which any teacher may need to use any of the skills and physical requirements listed above vary on a daily basis. However, any of them may be necessary at any time on an emergency basis, and there are some situations in which one or more of them may be necessary for an extended period of time.

A Preschool teacher must be willing to drive cars and vans and install car seats.

MP&MS is an equal opportunity employer. All individuals have an equal opportunity for employment based on qualifications and merit, regardless of religion, race, sex, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, color, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, military service status, or any other factor prohibited by state or federal law. This policy applies to all areas of employment, including recruitment, hiring, training, promotion, compensation, benefits, and other conditions of employment. MP&MS also makes reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities and for employees who request accommodation for pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

MP&MS welcomes and encourages applications from members of traditionally underrepresented groups.