Throughout the country, child care and Pre-K providers are either opening at limited capacity or closing due to the nationwide teacher shortage.
Locally, the Metropolitan Action Commission’s Head Start and Early Head Start program has had to delay the start of some children into its Head Start and Early Head Start centers due to teacher vacancies.
In an effort to recruit more teachers, the agency now has an initiative that would enable teachers with an associate degree to serve as a lead teacher instead of requiring a bachelors degree. Additionally teachers with a Child Development Associate (CDA) currently enrolled in a college Early Childhood Education (ECE) program or its equivalent may also be eligible for employment as a lead teacher.
To ensure new teachers are equipped for success in the Head Start classrooms, the agency has created a teacher readiness program that will equip new lead teachers while they are employed.
The next hiring event which will be held on Thursday, November 17 (virtually and in person) will be an opportunity for eligible teachers to apply for openings in Metro Action’s early education program.
The agency also has an existing program for infant and toddler teachers with child care experience but no formal teaching credential, to be employed in its Early Head Start program through a partnership with Nashville State Community College.
For more information about the hiring event on Thursday, applicants are encouraged to contact the Metro Action Human Resources Office at [email protected] or call 615-862-8860, extension 70105.
The hiring event will be held at the Metro Action Commission main office located at 800 2nd Avenue North from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The Head Start and Early Head Start program is the largest sole provider of birth to five early childhood education in Nashville and Davidson County. The program provides early childhood education to children from families with low to moderate incomes as well as children with diagnosed disabilities.
Metro Action receives funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Administration for Children and Families to administer the Head Start and Early Head Start program and funding for the nutrition programs from a grant provided by U.S. Department of Agriculture Child and Adult Care Food Program.