Little Gate Aftercare Assistant

Description

Reports to: Director of Little Gate Afterschool & Enrichment

FLSA Classification: Non-Exempt (Hourly)

Hours: 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM, Monday – Friday

Start Date: August 2026

About McGehee School

Founded in 1912, Louise S. McGehee School is an independent all-girls Pre-K–12 school in New Orleans. For more than a century, McGehee has educated girls to lead with purpose and confidence — and today, we are shaping our next chapter.

Our Vision is a world shaped by purposeful women who lead with clarity, courage, and conviction. Little Gate, McGehee's co-ed early childhood division, lays the foundation for that vision — nurturing every child's natural curiosity and sense of wonder in the earliest years of learning.

Our Mission challenges each student to discover their strengths and build the foundation to become an independent learner, a critical thinker, and a confident leader. Academic depth, intellectual ambition, creativity, and self-direction define the McGehee experience from the earliest years through graduation.

Our work is guided by the values that shape our community and decisions:

• Commitment to Excellence grounded in high expectations and continuous improvement
• Empowering Leadership that elevates others and builds strong teams
• Honorable Action rooted in integrity and alignment between values and choices
• Independent Thought balanced by curiosity and courage
• Joyful Engagement that recognizes children thrive when they feel valued, challenged, and connected

McGehee advances a distinctive, individualized approach to education built on close relationships between students and faculty and grounded in research-informed practice. Located on a historic Garden District campus, we embrace New Orleans as an extended classroom, connecting learning to service, internships, and real-world leadership. With more than 2,200 alumnae worldwide, McGehee is both a rigorous academic institution and a lifelong community committed to excellence and impact.

About the Little Gate Program

Little Gate is McGehee's play-based early childhood division, inspired by the Reggio Emilia philosophy of education. We view each child as capable and curious, and we trust that natural inquisitiveness to lead children to explore, discover, question, experiment, and construct their own understanding of the world around them and their role in it.

About the Role

McGehee's Auxiliary Programs extend the school's mission beyond the academic day, giving children a safe, engaging environment to grow socially, creatively, and emotionally. The Little Gate Aftercare Assistant plays a meaningful role in this work — supervising children directly, supporting daily routines and play, and helping ensure every child feels safe, cared for, and joyfully engaged during their afternoon hours at Little Gate. This role requires a true passion for working with early childhood age children.

What You'll Do

• Supervise children at all times across indoor and outdoor play spaces
• Change diapers and support other routine care needs as part of daily classroom life
• Oversee snack time
• Engage in outdoor and indoor floor play alongside children
• Learn and follow licensing standards for incidents and incident reports
• Work collaboratively as part of a teaching team
• Communicate warmly and professionally with parents, families, and other Little Gate staff
• Assist with the student check-in and check-out process

Requirements

What You Bring

• Excellent communication skills
• A calm, attentive, and nurturing presence with young children
• Genuine love for teaching and caring for children
• Flexibility and adaptability to changing daily needs
• Experience in the child care field preferred

What You Bring

• Monday–Friday, 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM 
• Candidates available to work four or five days a week are highly preferred

Physical Requirements and Work Environment

• Ability to maintain appropriate boundaries with students, fellow staff, and community members
• Able to walk up three flights of stairs
• Comfortable with repetitive tasks and close attention to detail
• Ability to stand for extended periods of time
• Physical agility to lift and/or move up to 25 lbs to shoulder height and 50 lbs to waist height; and to bend, stoop, reach, sit on the floor, climb stairs, walk, reach overhead, balance, kneel, and crouch
• Comfortable working in a combination of indoor and outdoor environments
• Exposure to high noise levels, bodily fluids, infectious illness/disease, and occasional inclement weather
• Attend, facilitate, and oversee outdoor play in multiple environments for approximately 1–2 hours per day
• Ability to perform essential job functions with or without reasonable accommodation

Physical Stamina

Most children have plenty of energy and need physical activity to stay healthy. Expect to be in motion during most of your time around children, whether participating in outdoor playtime or cleaning up after activities. Physical stamina allows you to stay engaged with children in a variety of ways, providing a healthy, safe environment where you are able to respond in the moment to each individual situation and its needs.

Louise S. McGehee School is an equal opportunity employer dedicated to building an inclusive and diverse workforce. McGehee does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, marital status, sex, gender or gender identity, age, sexual orientation, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.