Teacher Classroom Assistant
Job Description
VOICE Charter School (www.voicecharterschool.org) is an elementary and middle school located in Long Island City, Queens that serves students in grades K-8. We are located just minutes from Manhattan (two stops from the last subway stop in Manhattan on the F train) and Long Island City’s growing waterfront district, thriving arts community, and rapid residential growth. We combine rigorous academics with daily instruction in choral singing, thereby encouraging creative and critical thinking while improving academic performance. We are looking to identify extraordinary educators and administrators committed to urban education and high academic achievement who wish to join a dynamic learning community.
Our mission is to create a safe and healthy learning environment that will nurture, motivate and challenge all of our children to achieve the highest level of academic excellence and to develop into mindful, responsible, contributing participants in their education, their community and the diverse society in which we live.
What makes VOICE different?
At VOICE, it’s not just about the music. It’s about the people. It’s about what you can be. It’s about using your passion. It’s about relationships. It’s about having the opportunity to choose. It’s about caring for each individual child. Our teachers, administrators, students and parents come together to support our children’s education. We operate as part of a professional learning community that promotes collegiality, shared work, and unending reflection and growth. At VOICE, you will be pushed to become more.
We believe in efficacy. At the core of our academic culture is the idea that all students are capable of doing well in any discipline. At VOICE, all students will learn.
We support and develop the effectiveness of our teachers. We believe that teachers need time to collaborate to build their practice, so we provide them with over two hours of planning time a day, as well as additional days for curriculum development and training during the school year.
We promote participation in music and the arts. As music and art both help to develop problem solving and critical thinking skills and open children’s imaginations, all VOICE students participate in daily activities in the arts, including rigorous choral training. We design our arts-integrated curriculum to bring joy to the lives of our children in order to provide them with the skills necessary to forge their own path.
All Faculty and Staff at VOICE:
- Love and nurture all of our students as they become deeply caring and responsible individuals
- Take personal responsibility for the performance and growth of each individual student as we understand that the progress of all students is directly under our control
- Work collaboratively
- Hold themselves to the highest standards
- Push and support themselves, their students, and their colleagues
- Proactively seek and incorporate feedback
- Help each individual child gain the opportunity to choose what his or her future will be
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Position Responsibilities:
The Middle School Classroom Assistant supports teachers in providing students in grades 6-8 with a safe and healthy learning environment that will nurture, motivate and challenge all children to achieve the highest level of academic excellence and to develop into mindful, responsible, contributing participants in their education and communities.
Educational Activities
- Provide behavior management support
- Work with students one-on-one or in small groups to reinforce instruction
- Proactively identify student growth areas and implement collaborative problem-solving plans to address student lagging skills
- Serve as a substitute for teachers as necessary
School Culture Activities
- Support dean team by investigating incident reports, guiding students to solve their own problems, and holding students accountable for consequences and restorative work
- Supervise out of classroom settings such as arrival, transitions, lunch, and dismissal
- Lead activities during daily recess periods in all weather conditions
- Ensure playgrounds are safe and free of ice and snow by supporting snow removal and shoveling snow
- Support select after school opportunities such as concerts, ceremonies, dances, athletics, and detention
- Fully participate in opportunities for individual and school-wide professional development
Administrative Activities
- Correspond with families via telephone, written notes, and in-person communications
- Distribute classroom materials and complete other clerical tasks as needed by teachers and support staff
Position Qualifications:
Behavioral Qualifications
- Unwavering commitment to VOICE mission, vision, and values
- Models high standards of integrity, trust, openness, and respect for others
- Demonstrates integrity by honoring commitments and promises
- Operates and follows through on assigned tasks and projects under specific time constraints and by specified deadlines
- Is productive and carries fair share of the workload; focuses on quality and expends the necessary time and effort to achieve goals
- Seeks to understand and meet and/or exceed the needs and expectations of customers and clients; treats customers and clients with respect
- Builds and maintains positive relationships with team members
- Recognizes the constructive value of and embraces feedback
- Responds and adapts to developing challenges and obstacles when under pressure calmly and logically to develop working solutions in a timely manner
- Identifies and seeks to resolve and prevent problems
- Approaches new challenges as opportunities to improve skills and abilities, seeking advice and feedback to constantly improve
- Seeks opportunities for personal and professional learning
Skills and Knowledge
- Exercises discretion regarding sensitive personal and legal information
- Effectively prioritizes tasks in order to meet deadlines
- Responds to requests in a professional manner, even in difficult circumstances; provides accurate and timely service
- Works effectively and cooperatively with others to achieve goals
- Writes clearly and concisely; listens attentively to others and responds appropriately; takes into account the audience and nature of the information
- Verbally articulates progress against tasks clearly and concisely; communicates ideas, suggestions and concerns as well as outcomes and progress throughout the course of a task or project
- Regularly applies feedback and training outcomes to the work to grow continuously in and add value to the role
- Exhibits ability to identify and address issues
- Manages up and laterally by proactively providing supervisors and clients support and solutions to move work and projects forward
- Identifies and seeks to resolve and prevent conflicts with team members
Educational Background and Work Experience
- Associates or Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university preferred. Highschool Diploma required.
- Willingness to pursue NYS assistant certification
- Ability to lift at least 40 pounds
Applications are enhanced if candidates:
- Have one year of experience working in an office environment preferred
- Speak Spanish
- Have previous experience working with students
- Have previous experience working in contexts involving high-needs communities
Compensation and Benefits:
Salary is $22 per hour. Compensation is competitive and based on experience and education.
We offer a comprehensive benefits package, including participation in the TransitChek program and partial reimbursement for monthly commuting expenses, gym reimbursement, participation in the 403B retirement program, cultural enrichment reimbursements and many opportunities to get to know your VOICE colleagues!
How to Apply: Please submit an electronic application (including a VOICE-specific cover letter and resume) here.
VOICE Charter School is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In its employment decisions, VOICE does not discriminate on the basis of an applicant or employee’s race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, unemployment status, or any other status protected by law.
