Preschool + Summer Camp Lead Teacher

The Preschool Lead Teacher’s role is to support NSEA’s fully outdoors Keystone Preschool program. The teacher will co-teach to lead a small group of 3 & 4 year olds in daily preschool activities. This licensed, nature-based preschool learning occurs primarily on NSEA’s campus, as well as at various field trip locations throughout Whatcom County. The Preschool Teacher is responsible for supporting learning goals that focus on our inquiry and nature-based program, with an emphasis on the outdoor environment as an outdoor classroom learning opportunity. The goals are to encourage students’ understanding of the natural world, grow in empathy and kindness towards others, and build strong skills through hands on sensory experiences, skill building, and growing in knowledge. 

The Preschool Lead Teacher works under the supervision of the Preschool Coordinator and co-teaches with the other Lead Teacher. The teacher will join the classroom’s existing teachers in April, through the end of the school year on Friday, June 5th. Candidates must be available 8am-2:30pm, Tuesday-Friday, from April 13th until June 5th. There will also be approximately 15 paid hours of mandatory paperwork to be completed asynchronously before April 13th. 

The position will continue into our summer preschool program, Camp Keystone. Camp Educators will be responsible for co-leading groups of up to 12 campers in outdoor programming including nature exploration, movement games, stories, arts and crafts, and songs, all based on the unique needs of the group each week as part of our emergent learning curriculum. Camp Educators will gain teaching and youth leadership skills, along with professional skills to benefit professional career pursuits. 

The dates of the summer educator role are June 15 – August 28, Monday – Friday. This includes a mandatory 1-week camp orientation in June term. 

Weekly hours for summer will vary and will feature a rotation of teaching 6-7 weeks of half-day camp (7:30am – 1:30pm) and 2-3 weeks of full-day camp (7:30am – 4:00pm). Hours are based on enrollment. If select weeks have low enrollment, educators are not guaranteed hours for those weeks. Each educator will be granted up to 1 scheduled week off during the summer period, and this role will have a week off between preschool and camp, June 8th – 12th.