Evergreen Community School
2800 Colorado Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90404
Start Date: August 21, 2023
Evergreen Community School is a small (60 students), NAEYC accredited, non-profit preschool in Santa Monica, California. We are a community of dedicated teachers and parents committed to a progressive, social-constructivist model. The staff includes
10 full-time teachers, an atelierista and a pedagogista.
We’re looking for a dedicated and professional educator with previous classroom experience. The classroom teacher works in a team of 3 in the classroom, atelier, and outdoor environments. A knowledge of and/or a strong passion for social constructivist education is a must! We’re seeking self-starters who value collaboration, innovative thinking, a passion for working with children and a strong image of the child. Our ideal candidate is flexible, friendly and has strong verbal and written communication skills. Competence with Mac programs, video and photography are a plus.
Evergreen staff is warm, fun, and dedicated to a collaborative approach. We are committed to professional growth both individually and as a group. Staff are encouraged to pursue their own personal passions, and often weave their interests into their work.
In order to learn from and co-create with people of diverse backgrounds and perspectives, we seek to foster an inclusive and collaborative environment. We value and respect diversity in its many forms: race, ethnicity, national origin, ability, class, faith, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, and experience.
Responsibilities include:
• Observing, reflecting and documenting individual and group experiences.
• Keeping a portfolio for each child with dated work that shows a progression of skill, interest and activity.
• Using documentation and portfolios as a guide for developing curriculum.
• Developing individual goals for each child while being mindful of group
dynamics and collaboration.
• Writing and distributing weekly updates
• Collaborating on a teaching team, atelierista and pedagogista
• Building positive, supportive relationships with families
• Participating in professional development meetings, workshops, and conferences at the preschool
• Attending schoolwide and class events such as parent meetings and other special events.
Our program requires the following in addition to a BA in ECE or related field, strong child development background, and at least two years of early childhood experience:
• knowledge of social constructivism or the Reggio Approach
– Proficiency in implementing inquiry-based curricula, with a focus on observation, reflection, and documentation
• comfortable and creative expressing yourself through writing and speaking
• ability and desire to think creatively about ideas and materials
• strong collaborative skills
• well-developed facilitating skills that encourage children to problem solve on their own and foster independence.
• joyfulness, a good sense of humor, and team spirit!
• ability to multi-task
• computer literacy
• long term commitment
• PASSION!
The annual salary at Evergreen is $31/hour to $35/hour depending on education and experience. As an employee of Evergreen Community School, you are also eligible for our benefits program, which includes:
Medical insurance
Option to participate in dental and vision insurance
Option to participate in a matching 403(b) retirement plan
Four weeks paid vacation (Winter and Spring Break)
Education Benefit for professional development including classes, conferences, books, and technology
If interested, please write a cover letter describing your experience and why you think Evergreen would be a good fit for you. Please email your resume and cover letter to:
Kaitie O’Brien, Director
kobrien@evergreencommunityschool.com
Evergreen Community School was founded in 1983 with four children enrolled and one teacher, Alise Shafer. It was a blank canvas with a palette of possibilities. A social constructivist approach was adopted as a theoretical framework, influenced by the work of Piaget and Vygotsky, among others. As awareness of the school’s program spread through the community, the student population expanded and diversified. Evergreen reflects our desire to be perpetually growing and reaching for greater heights while remaining steadfastly rooted in our respect for children’s strengths, competencies and potential. Community is our middle name. The strength of our school lies in the relationships that we build; and further, in the sense of community that we create, both within our school environment and without. Evergreen is internationally known….visitors from all over the world (trying to find worlds for this…)
The philosophy of Evergreen Community School is based primarily on social constructivist theory which asserts the following:
• Knowledge is built by the learner internally rather than being imported from an external source.
• The experiential world is complex and intricate, thus learning involves the consideration of multiple truths, representations and perspectives.
• Constructivist learning environments emphasize authentic tasks in a meaningful context rather than abstract instruction out of context.
• Social discourse and negotiation help students clarify and modify their ideas, thus enabling the student to build a personal knowledge base.
To facilitate our constructivist view we have designed an environment that encourages children to freely and creatively manipulate objects and ideas. Our days unfold as children bring into focus what is relevant to them, thus providing the motivation for meaningful and contextually grounded explorations. Their activities are problem centered and often require sustained social, physical and mental participation. The unraveling of cognitive knots is a joyful process in which multiple realities are explored, thereby acknowledging the complexity of the real world. Teachers stimulate and support children’s learning by challenging their hypotheses, offering additional material resources, modeling reflection and asking children to elaborate their understandings.
Kaitie O'Brien
kobrien@evergreencommunityschool.com
(310) 453-6255
Together, we are empowering exceptional education.