Infant/Toddler Teacher

SUMMARY OF PRIMARY FUNCTION
The Infant/Toddler Teacher is responsible for classroom operation including planning, carrying out activities, maintaining the classroom environment, supervising children, establishing and holding parent/teacher conferences/home visits. The Teacher provides leadership and direction to other staff within the classroom and cooperates with other staff in providing services for the children and their parents. This position is responsible for data entry and record keeping responsibility for the children within their classroom as well as overall planning for children served in their classroom. This position is responsible for creating and facilitating a safe, healthy environment that provides intentional developmentally appropriate learning opportunities for the young children served. Helps recruit potential parents by providing information to them about the various program services and benefits offered to enrolled children and families.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Classroom Operations
1. Plans a daily schedule and weekly lesson plan creating a varied and wide-range of opportunities for children to promote school readiness.
2. Plans and implements learning experiences that advance the intellectual and physical development of children.
3. Improves the readiness of children for school by developing their literacy, phonemic and print awareness, their understanding and use of language, their understanding and use of increasingly complex and varied vocabulary, their appreciation of books, their understanding of early math and early science, their problem-solving abilities and their approaches to learning.
4. Tends to children's personal hygiene needs, including diaper changing, cleaning, feeding, and changing soiled or wet clothes.
5. Promotes social and emotional development of children.
6. Assumes overall classroom responsibility and data entry for all children served in their classroom.
7. Completes required education screenings within the specified timelines.
8. Ensures effective curriculum implementation.

Safety & Sanitation
1. Maintains a safe, clean, care-giving environment, practices good personal hygiene and hand washing, and assures the well-being and safety of all of the children in that environment.
2. Utilizes disciplinary measures appropriately as outlined in the Behavior Guidance Policies and Procedures.
3. Protects all children from physical punishment or verbal abuse by anyone in any program activity, and immediately reports any such incident to the person in charge.
4. Provides for the physical safety of each child from arrival time until departure time.
5. Posts and complies with safety, sanitation and other guidelines for serving enrolled children (i.e., Child Care Licensing Standards, Head Start Performance Standards, Tri-Valley policy).
6. Assures that safety and sanitation policies and procedures are followed appropriately.
7. Assures that children are dressed appropriately for the weather and type of play in which they are engaged.
8. Assures that children are supervised at all times.
9. Have or obtain within 90 days of hire a First Aid and CPR Certification as well as maintain the certification during employment. Administer First Aid and/or CPR when necessary.

Physical Arrangement
1. Plans and arranges an environment and room arrangement for children which is supportive and appropriate to meet their needs according to NAEYC’s Developmentally Appropriate Practices and the Creative Curriculum guidelines.
2. Creates developmentally appropriate and well-defined activity areas in the classroom.
3. Assures sufficient and appropriate materials are displayed in orderly and accessible fashion.
4. Assures indoor/outdoor areas are safe, secure, and provides a variety of opportunities for children to explore.
5. Assures physical environment is child-sized.

Schedule, Routines, and Transitions
1. Plans, posts, and complies with appropriate child lesson plans.
2. Ensures required items are posted.
3. Plans and implements transition activities to assist children with changes in the environment.
4. Provides predictable routines to help children gain a sense of security.
5. Creates intentional teaching opportunities in preparation for school readiness.
6. Tends to children's personal hygiene needs, remaining especially attentive to them during routines such as diaper changing, cleaning, feeding, and changing soiled or wet clothes.

Individualizing
1. Determines the needs of children and plans and expedites services accordingly.
2. Observes children, documents and refers those requiring additional services, i.e. mental health, nutrition, disabilities and other consultation as appropriate.
3. Assists in the planning and conducts activities with the child that creates a developmentally appropriate and varied range of opportunities to explore and experience which meet the individual needs of the child (i.e. developing social and communication skills, self-esteem, creativity, self-reliance, etc.).
4. Shares family-style meal; models manners and good nutrition.

Recordkeeping and Reporting/Data Entry
1. Conducts developmental screenings and ongoing assessments.
2. Completes timely, neat, accurate documentation as required.
3. Maintains and documents communication with families.
4. Collects and charts data and other assessment to determine the developmental level of individual children.
5. Uses assessment data to promote children’s progress.

Parent Contact and Involvement
1. Conducts parent conferences and home visits.
2. Prepares and distributes take home activities for parents.
3. Provides ongoing contact with families via telephone calls, notes or visits, documenting activity on contact sheets.
4. Attends Parent Meetings and shares information regarding the children you serve as requested.
5. Encourages the involvement of families and supports the development of relationships between children and their families.
6. Helps arrange parent volunteers, welcome them and utilizes their skills in the classroom.
7. Provide Family Services support and goal setting as determined by program needs.
8. Invites parents/guardians to participate in the program.

Communication
1. Maintains an open, friendly, and cooperative relationship with each child and family.
2. Greets children and their parents warmly and with enthusiasm.
3. Maintains a cooperative attitude of working together with other staff, parents and volunteers in planning and implementing activities for the program/classroom.
4. Maintains a positive, calm attitude and a pleasant, soothing voice, and models this attitude and voice for parents and others working or volunteering in the program.

• Specific daily teacher responsibilities are dependent on staffing patterns and classroom need.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
1. Demonstrated competency to provide effective and nurturing teacher-child interactions; plan and implement learning experiences that ensure effective curriculum implementation and use of assessment and promote children’s progress across program standards.
2. Comfortable working with computers, willing and able to learn program specific systems.
3. Educational and experience requirements for the appropriate level in compliance with Head Start Performance Standards and MN Rule 3 Teacher Qualifications:

Infant/Toddler Teacher

• Infant/Toddler Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential or a comparable credential.

Infant/Toddler Teacher in Training

• At least 18 years of age.
• High School diploma or GED.
• Ability to obtain an Infant/Toddler Child Development Associate (CDA) credential within 9 months of the start date of the CDA Individual Plan of Action. CDA credential coursework will be provided.

Teacher

• Teacher III: AA in Early Childhood Education, Child Development, or related field with 12 credits of accepted, education-related coursework and 1,040 hours experience in a licensed early childhood setting or public school system OR;
• Teacher IV: BA/BS degree in Early Childhood Education, Child Development, or related field with 12 credits of accepted, education-related coursework and 1,040 hours experience in a licensed early childhood setting or public school system OR;
• Teacher V: MA/MS in Early Childhood Education, Child Development, or related field with 12 credits of accepted, education-related and 1, 040 hours experience in a licensed early childhood setting or public school system.

Teacher in Training

• At least 18 years of age.
• High School diploma or GED.
• Ability to obtain an AA or advanced degree in Early Childhood Development within agreed upon timeframe established at hire. Coursework will be partially or fully provided.

Tri-Valley is a non-profit community action agency. We believe in the value of all human beings. It is that belief that drives our efforts to identify needs, seek resources and provide opportunities for people to thrive.
Our work is committed to strengthening our communities so that its citizens have better places to live, work, worship and enjoy.
The mission of Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, Inc. is to provide opportunities to improve the quality of life for people and communities.
If you are an applicant with a disability and need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact Human Resources at 218-281-0536 or [email protected].

Application Deadline: 2 weeks, until 10/16/2026
Employee Type: 10-Month
Hours per Week: 40
Shift Schedule: M-F 7:45am-4:15pm
Service Area Coverage: MSP
Benefits: 401K/Roth, PTO Accrual, Paid Holidays, ESST, and Employer Paid Life/LTD, Optional benefits such as Health, Dental, Vision, HSA, FSA, Aflac/Colonial Life and Short-Term Disability
If any questions about the position, please contact: BriAnn Beggin, [email protected]