Special Education Paraprofessional (Spanish-Speaking)

Job Summary: Special Education Paraprofessionals provide assistance, under case manager and classroom teacher direction, to students identified with special needs by helping them stay on task, complete assignments, maintain acceptable behavior, and learn to independently function in daily living skills needed for success in school. Paraprofessionals will report on days students are present. Paraprofessionals may also be given professional development opportunities on non-student days or after student hours, which will be required. This position will work with students in grades K - 5.

Hourly Range of Pay: $18.50 - $21.50

Essential Functions:

Paraprofessional duties depend on student needs and often include the following:

Provide support strategies and techniques to individual students or small groups of students to facilitate independence, self-reliance, and integration into the classroom setting.
Work with individual students or small groups of students to reinforce learning of material or skills initially introduced by the teacher.
Assist the teacher in devising special strategies for reinforcing material or skills based on a sympathetic understanding of individual students, their needs, interest, and abilities.
Guide independent study, enrichment work, and remedial work set up and assigned by the teacher or case manager to work on IEP goals.
Read to students, listen to students read, and participate in other forms of oral communication with students.
Check notebooks, correct papers, and supervise testing and make-up work, as assigned by the teacher.
Perform assigned supervision of students during lunch periods, play periods, and on field trips.
Help students with their clothing.
Assist with lunch, snack, and cleanup routines.
Assist with wash-up and toilet routines.
Work toward fading prompting to increase student independence.
Alert the regular teacher and case manager to any problem or special information about an individual student.
Participate in in-service training programs, as assigned.
Maintain the same high level of ethical behavior and confidentiality of information about students as is expected of fully licensed teachers.

Required Qualifications:

High school diploma or equivalent.
Aptitude for the work to be performed.
Interest in children and education.
Desire to assist students with special needs in a learning environment.
Emotional maturity and stability necessary for the specialized work involved.
Fluent in English, both written and spoken.
Fluent in Spanish, both written and spoken.

Physical Requirements: This position requires vocal communication, hearing, climbing, balancing, stooping, kneeling, reaching, standing, walking, sitting, pushing, pulling, use of hands to grasp and feel, and vision abilities including close, distance, and adjusting focus. Lifting/moving required frequently up to 25 pounds and occasionally up to 40 pounds or more. Work occasionally requires exposure to bloodborne pathogens and is generally in a moderately noisy location. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.