Pre-school Integrated Paraprofessional bei Holyoke Public Schools

Holyoke Public Schools (HPS) serves 5,300 students in 11 schools and employs nearly 1000 people. This is an exciting time of change and transformation at HPS. Although there are many strengths within the District and many students graduate college and career ready, last year, HPS was placed in receivership by the State of Massachusetts, due to chronically struggling performance well below the state average. The State appointed Dr. Stephen Zrike, a seasoned Massachusetts educator, as Receiver, to lead this exciting turnaround effort, which includes significant autonomy and flexibility from the traditional school system. For more information about the HPS Turnaround Plan, please visit: http://www.hps.holyoke.ma.us/turnaroundplan.htm.  

Job description: 

• Administers, scores, and records such achievement and diagnostic tests as the teacher recommends for individual students.
• Works with individual students or small groups of students to reinforce learning of material or skills initially introduced by the teacher.
• Assists the teacher in devising special strategies for reinforcing material or skills based on a sympathetic understanding of individual students, their needs, interest, and abilities.
• Operates and cares for equipment used in the classroom for instructional purposes. 
• Helps student master equipment or instructional materials assigned by the teacher.
• Distributes and collects workbooks, papers, and other materials for instruction.
• Guides independent study, enrichment work, and remedial work set up and assigned by the teacher.
• Assists with the supervision of students during emergency drills, assemblies, play periods, and field trips.
• Keeps bulletin board and other classroom learning displays up to date.
• Reads to students, listens to students read, and participates in other forms of oral communication with students.
• Assists students in the library or media center.
• Checks notebooks, corrects papers, and supervises testing and make-up work, as assigned by the teacher.
• Collects and records collection of money.
• Serves as the chief source of information and help to any substitute teacher    assigned in the absence of the regular teacher.
• Maintains the same high level of ethical behavior and confidentiality of information about students as is expected of fully licensed teachers.
• Participates in in-service training programs, as assigned.  
• The classroom teacher should handle serious discipline problems.
• Paraprofessionals should not administer corporal punishment.
• The work hours for a paraprofessional will be the same as for teachers.
• Paraprofessionals will report on days students are present.

Qualifications:

• Associates Degree or higher; Or Highly qualified under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). 
• Training or experience working with special needs students preferred.