Do you want to make a difference in the life of a student?  Our school is seeking caring, consistent, adults to join our paraeducator team.  Paraeducators work closely with teachers to provide extra support to students.

Vocational Special Needs (VSN) paraeducators are also known as Job Coaches.  These staff utilize district vehicles and transport students to job sites in the community.  They also act as a liaison between the business and program coordinator regarding student needs.  The Job Coach helps to break down the job site responsibilities in ways the student can best learn.  The primary goal is to fade support over time which means slowly back away from direct support as the student learns to meet the requirements independently.

Paras working with our Functional Applied Academics (FAA) classroom may work with students who have a cognitive disability, a traumatic brain injury, other health impairment, or some combination of disabilities that limit their ability to complete the K-12 general curriculum without significant modifications. The academic emphasis for students supported in FAA is on academic skills that will contribute to their independence in work, recreation, and living after graduation.  Paraeducator responsibilities could include providing academic accommodations as well as social emotional or physical support depending on the individual student needs.  Some form of toileting is very common with younger students. Toileting needs tend to decrease as students are older but may still exist.   All health and safety precautions are followed. 

The Inter Related/Instructional Support (IRIS) para works primarily with students that have learning disabilities but the students supported could have any type of disability. The focus is on supporting students in their instructional environment.  The environment could be in the general and/or special education classrooms as well as with one or more students.  Typical responsibilities could include note taking, assisting with content review, reading material out loud, helping the student stay on task or even escorting them to an alternate location for a quieter place to work.  

Perks of Working for Maize 

• School schedule – paras work when students are in session along with a couple of additional days
• Holidays off – enjoy a week at Thanksgiving, two weeks around Christmas, and Spring Break
• Paid Leave –12 sick days and 4 personal days a year
• Benefits – working more than 25 hours per week makes you eligible for subsidized health benefits along with a variety of other benefits
• Retirement - employees working more than 630 hours a year participate in the KPERS retirement plan

Successful Candidates

• Pass a background check
• Have a current TB test
• Are strong team players
• Possess basic computer and math skills
• Must enjoy a fast pace environment
• Can spend 80% of their day standing and 20% walking – Time is spent lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, stooping, kneeling, crouching, crawling, and using finger dexterity
• Maintain regular and acceptable attendance/punctuality