Full Time TEACHER ASSISTANT-Paraprofessional -Autism Therapeutic Day School
- Fantastic hours 8:30-3:00 (32.5 hours/week) full time.
- Great hourly rate $18.00 per hour.
- Qualify with a High School diploma or greater.
- Opportunity to grow, gain knowledge in our teaching model and be considered for higher positions within our one-of-a-kind school.
- Amazing benefits.
- Great team collaboration with colleagues passionate about supporting students and each other!
- Act as a student’s one on one player in a variety of settings, (including interaction on the floor, at student’s work station, during academics, while walking/running in hallways, outside or at community outings) facilitating and supporting capacities for shared attention, regulation, engagement, forming ideas, problem-solving and thinking during one to one and small group teaching, within a hands-off/ non-physical restraint trauma informed child-centered collaborative environment.
- Upon hire, requires a Paraprofessional license( Short Term or Permanent ELS Para) or a valid teacher/substitute teacher license. Easy to acquire with a High School diploma OR 60 or more college credit hours.
Make a difference in the life of a child with Autism!
Patience and compassion for individual differences of students with special needs in a one-of-a-kind therapeutic day school in Lombard, IL serving students with Autism, ages 3 to 21 years old.
Join a comprehensive team of dedicated, child-centered professionals supporting our students and their families, in a calm/nurturing but fast paced and dynamic environment, working together to harness each student's joy for interaction, play, communication and learning. We are a hands-off school utilizing proactive strategies to interpret the actions and behaviors of students, instead of using behavioral methods of time out, consequences and rewards or physical restraint/carry/holds. SEA is a specialized therapeutic day school serving children and young adults with Autism and complex emotional and behavioral challenges, that may result in students becoming verbally and/or physically aggressive (in some cases without warning), within a fast paced, student and family-centered, highly relational and collaborative environment. We believe that the "behaviors" others see as impacting education for these students are a result of their lack of comprehension and challenges to process sensory and social/emotional information from their environment and communication partners. With our appropriate interpretation of their intentions, our hands-off/ non-physical restraint, language-based strategies and emotional and sensory supports- our students are soaring!
Our Teacher Assistants have a central role, the heart of our model, in the support of our students. Requires a Paraprofessional license( Short Term or Permanent ELS Para) or a valid teacher/substitute teacher license. Easy to acquire with a High School diploma OR 60 or more college credit hours.
Work 44.8 weeks of the year, 222 days. 6 weeks of student non-attendance and holidays.
Benefits Include for Full Time:
- BCBS medical, dental and vision.
- Short-term/long-term disability and a life insurance at no cost to employee.
- 7 PTO days per school year.
- 2 paid holidays of Christmas and New Year's Day.
- 403B retirement plan.
- Employee Assistance Program.
- Reflective processing to support you in your work serving our student population.
Compensation: Hourly rate $18.00.
SEA is the only school in the world to utilize a developmental language approach and developmental thinking, implementing DIR® Floortime principles, to understand and support students' social and academic development. Join our team with all staff working in our school building 5 full days per week providing in person teaching, following strict IDPH, CDC, ISBE and local public health department COVID-19 guidelines including handwashing/cleaning and sanitizing measures to the best of our ability within a mask optional environment.
For more information, please visit our website at www.soaringeagleacademy.org
Essential Functions:
- Act as the student’s one on one player in a variety of settings, (including interaction on the floor or at student’s work station, during academics, while walking/running in hallways, outside or at community outings) facilitating and supporting capacities for shared attention, regulation, engagement, forming ideas, problem-solving and thinking.
- Attune and respond to the student’s intentions providing meaning to their actions.
- Be the student's voice, verbally acknowledging their actions/intentions to them and others.
- Support the student's comprehension by interpreting verbalizations and actions of others and stimuli within the environment.
- Build a relationship with the student, always working to expand the relationship, critical for supporting the student’s ability to be engaged and available for learning throughout the day.
- Support and facilitate student capacities for language development, comprehension and communication, including using appropriate language levels according to your student’s profile.
- Read, prepare and follow a complex daily/weekly lesson developed by your Classroom Teacher.
- Recognize student’s interests and follow the student’s lead to engage in interactions allowing for elaboration and challenge of the student’s capacities.
- Support and lead individual and small group social and educational activities under direction of the classroom teacher.
- Assist a student with their physical needs (including self-help, feeding, hygeine, toileting) when needed in accordance with Privacy and Dignity Policy.
- If assigned to the Transition 18-21 year old classroom, will work in the community supporting students during recreational activities and serving as a job coach during vocational experiences.
- Ability to wear a face mask in the school building when needed.
- Ability to kneel, sit (on a chair or the floor) and stand moving easily and quickly from kneel to stand, sit to stand and stand to walk positions.
- Ability to walk up to a mile in distance.
- Ability to lift up to 50 pounds easily.
- Ability to engage in and support physical activities initiated by your assigned student including but not limited to, jumping, running, climbing, rolling, sitting/lying on the floor, swinging.
- Ability to act and respond to a student’s (yours and others’) dysregulation/behavior/combative and aggressive actions (which may include unpredictable physical conduct by the student against you) according to the strategies developed in the student’s Individualized Regulatory Support Plan and Safety Plan.
- Ability to quickly move away from and avoid combative/aggressive actions or behaviors of students.
- Ability to physically follow in close proximity and support your assigned student when he/she flees (runs) from an activity, an interaction or the learning environment.
- Ability to physically support students on indoor/outdoor therapeutic equipment.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $18.00 per hour
Expected hours: 32.5 per week
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- Dental insurance
- Employee assistance program
- Health insurance
- Health savings account
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Referral program
- Vision insurance
Grade school specialties:
- Elementary school
- High school
- Middle school
Physical setting:
Schedule:
- Day shift
- Monday to Friday
- No nights
- No weekends
Education:
- High school or equivalent (Required)
Work Location: In person