Temple Har Zion is located just west of Chicago, IL, in lovely River Forest. The Har Zion Early Childhood Center is looking for a full-time Director to join our preschool family! We are a Reggio Emilia inspired program with a focus on hands-on exploration, creativity, collaboration, and Jewish tradition. With the support of the temple and its members, the Early Childhood Center is a special community where families and educators work together to create a lifelong love of learning. Children aged 2-5 learn and play in mixed aged classrooms with low student-teacher ratios, and many of our families stay with the program until their children head to kindergarten.

Responsibilities

Classroom and Curriculum

1. Ensure curriculum meets standards of excellence, including following best practices, focusing on Jewish early childhood education, ensuring compliance with DCFS policy, alignment with NAEYC standards, and maintaining the ECC’s accreditation and certifications
2. Remain current on the latest educational trends, supervisory techniques, and Jewish learning, and implement improvements and changes to the ECC program as needed
3. Collaborate with teachers to design a Reggio-inspired curriculum, assist teachers to prepare classroom projects and programming, documentation, and prepare for parent-teacher conferences

Parent/Family Involvement

1. Communicate regularly with parents and families by: greeting families daily, responding to parents’ questions, concerns, and complaints in a timely manner, preparing and distributing the ECC’s weekly newsletter, and attending ECC events (such as open houses and parent meetings)
2. Build relationships with existing families, and coordinate the creation of parent committees and the assignment of room parent duties each school year
3. Recruit new families into ECC by coordinating programs for enrollment and working with the temple’s staff to publicize the preschool’s offerings

Staff Development

1. Hold regular staff meetings, conduct classroom observations, and prepare teacher development plans, conduct annual staff evaluations, and manage the interviewing and hiring of new teachers and staff (as needed)
2. Develop and administer the ECC summer camp, including hiring staff (as needed) and overseeing all aspects the program

Administration

1. Communicate regularly with the temple’s President and VP about the ECC program, and ensure temple leadership is involved in all staffing decisions and any major conflicts or grievances from teachers or families
2. Build community by working with the temple executive committee and clergy to organize young family programming and events
3. Communicate regularly with the temple’s administrator to coordinate logistics of the ECC program
4. Maintain and update the ECC Parent Handbook, Employee Handbook, and the school calendar
5. Prepare and regularly review all budgeting, expense management, and financial reporting for the ECC program, including overseeing the purchase of all supplies and food for the ECC program