Associate Director of Preschool

The 14th Street Y is a Jewish community center located in Downtown Manhattan. Each year, tens of thousands of New Yorkers of all ages, races, and ethnicities come to 14Y as members, visitors, and partners to experience our high quality and varied programs centered around arts and culture, early childhood education, afterschool, summer camps, fitness and aquatics, Jewish life, and older adult services. We are proud to be a multicultural, open-tent community that reflects the vibrancy of NYC. 

We are searching for a new Associate Director for 14Y’s Preschool, which currently serves approximately 60 children in 5 classes, ages 2-5, with 15 teachers and 4 administrative staff. Our school is inspired by a progressive, Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education, and guided by Jewish values. 14Y Preschool is part of the 14Y Early Childhood department which also runs an Infant and Toddler Center and Summer Camp programs. 

This role serves as key member of the 14Y Early Childhood team, partnering closely with the Director on daily planning for Preschool and other Early Childhood programs, including Summer Camps, and acting behalf of the director when needed. The position also oversees the admissions process for prospective families, supports teachers in curriculum development through documentation, reflection, and project planning, and collaborates across 14Y departments. As a relationship-builder and thought partner, the Associate Director helps foster a dynamic, responsive, inclusive, and community-centered Early Childhood program.

Please submit a cover letter with your application.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Admissions

• Represent 14Y Preschool to all current and prospective families with a warm, personalized experience 
• Oversee full Early Childhood admissions process from inquiry to enrollment with in-person touch points including but not limited to scheduling and leading tours, school visits, and community engagement events.
• Serve as the initial point of contact for prospective families through enrollment, with a focus on attracting, enrolling, and retaining families \
• Maintain, track, and analyze data including applications, contracts, enrollment, and class placement. 
• Partner with Marketing to create and compile promotional materials. 

Community Engagement

• Plan and execute Early Childhood community events including but not limited to: Special Visitor Day, graduation ceremonies, classroom visits, Alumni Day, Bake Sales, Shabbat and other Jewish holidays celebrations. 
• Coordinate field trips relevant to our surrounding community and the classrooms’ units of study. 
• Collaborate with other 14Y departments to plan family engagement events.

Staff Development and Classroom Support

• Support Director in managing teacher’s professional development through staff meetings and dialogue groups.
• Participate in weekly meetings with teaching teams to discuss ongoing project work and investigations, documentation, and communication with families; facilitate as needed in place of Director
• In partnership with Director, support the implementation of Jewish cultural programming within the Preschool community for students, their families, and our staff.
• Observe in classrooms to provide feedback, strategies and coaching to individual teachers and teams, to effectively implement curriculum. Conduct formal assessments, as necessary. 
• Support teachers to use documentation as the basis of the reflection and planning process, and to make children’s learning visible to children, families, and the community. Work with teachers to ensure that documentation aligns with a developmentally appropriate child-centered philosophy. 
• Participate in meetings with families and caregivers as needed.
• Participate in interviewing, recruitment, training and development of teachers, assistant teachers, and seasonal camp staff. 
• Provide in-classroom coverage as needed. 

Program Organization and Development

• Alongside entire Early Childhood admin team, support with planning and day-to-day management of New Town Day Camp, our in-house preschool-age summer camp. 
• Support Associate Dir. Of Operations to ensure classroom compliance for DOH. 
• Ensure Early Childhood spaces are reserved using the 14Y online building system. 
• Update and maintain daily schedules for Preschool and New Town Day Camp. 
• In partnership with Associate Director, Operations, track budgets and expenses for professional development and classroom materials. 
• Serve as main point of contact for vendors and teaching artists and communicate and confirm schedules. 
• Support planning and enrollment for Preschool Extended Day programming and afternoon Enrichment Classes. 
• Attend staff meetings, events, fairs, and trainings as required. 
• Perform special projects and other duties as assigned. 

QUALIFICATIONS

• Master's Degree and Valid NYS Early Childhood teaching certificate required
• Outstanding written and oral communications skills 
• Organized with strong attention to detail and ability to develop efficient, internal systems and workflow 
• Knowledge of and experience in Reggio-inspired pedagogy and/or child-led classroom practices 
• Minimum 3 years of classroom teaching experience required
• Able to work a flexible schedule as needed 
• Background in Jewish informal education and programming is a plus 
• Demonstrates ability to handle stressful situations in a professional, warm and friendly manner 
• Experience working in collaborative environments