Lead Educator - Elementary & Middle Grades

THIS IS NOT A STANDARD CLASSROOM JOB.

You have probably spent years being good at a job that never had room for all of it. The range you have, the ideas you never got to try, the children you wanted to actually know and never had the time to. That is the part of you this role is built around.

Livewell is a private learning community in Pleasanton serving children from PreK through 12th grade across two studio locations. This role leads our upper studio, a blended-age environment of twelve or fewer children in grades 3 through 8. We want the children here to run their own projects, garden, cook, learn survival skills, and do real math every day, because we teach them how to think rather than what to think. What we are building toward is children who can reason for themselves and lead without being told to. A guide leads each studio across the entire day and designs the experiences that carry a six week theme.

We are looking for one of those guides. If you read that and something landed, keep going.

This is not a sit-behind-the-desk teaching role. It is active, present, and in the room every single day. You instruct, lead, mentor, and build alongside the children in your care.

ONE IMPORTANT NOTE BEFORE YOU CONTINUE

We pay attention to detail. We are looking for someone who does too.

Send a brief introduction to ***email_hidden*** with the subject line: Lead Educator | [Your Name]. Tell us who you are, what drew you to this posting, and what you have built. Keep it genuine and specific. Vague or generic introductions do not advance.

Qualified candidates will be invited to complete a written application before any conversation is scheduled.

THE ROLE

This is not a support position. It is not a co-teaching role. It is not a place to show up and follow someone else's plan.

The Lead Educator owns their studio completely, independently, and excellently. Every single day.

Structured academic programs including daily math and literacy instruction, Socratic seminars, interdisciplinary project-based learning, life skills, physical education, art, gardening, cooking, and survival skills. Every six-week session is built around a unifying theme. You design the experiences that bring that theme to life across every day of programming.

You own this program fully. A part time enrichment guide supports the studio and reports to you. A Program Accountability Coach works alongside you throughout the year, invested in your growth and Livewell's standard. You are supported. You are not alone. But this is yours.

Yes, this role wears many hats. That is not a warning. It is the point.

But here is what makes it possible: You are not managing a classroom of twenty six children. You are leading a studio of twelve or fewer children. You know every child's name, learning style, family context, and growth edge. You have the bandwidth to be excellent because the model was designed that way.

You run the studio from open to close. You know every child's learning goals, family context, and growth edges. You communicate with families proactively. You document with precision.

You plan entire sessions in advance, in daily detail, so the program runs with continuity and purpose whether or not anyone is looking over your shoulder.

You create lessons on topics you may know nothing about, because this role demands curiosity, adaptability, and the willingness to learn alongside your students. You do not wait to be told what needs to happen. You see it, you handle it, and you own it.

WHAT YOU BUILD EVERY DAY

An environment where children feel challenged, seen, and genuinely growing. Where projects are experiences rather than tasks. Where students develop autonomy, self-direction, and personal responsibility.

A studio that reflects your standard in its organization, its energy, its culture, and its daily execution. Families see this environment. Children absorb it. It must be excellent at all times.

A relationship with families built on proactive communication, professional depth, and consistent trust. Parents at Livewell are partners. You treat them accordingly.

WHO YOU ARE

You hold yourself to a high standard in every area. How you show up, how you speak, how you carry yourself in a room full of children and families. In this role, you are the standard children measure themselves against every day.

You have built things. Programs, environments, experiences that took real planning and follow-through that did not depend on anyone checking behind you.

Organization is not something you were trained into. Disorder costs you something personally, so order is just how you keep things.

You hold children to a high standard with warmth, because you understand that challenge and care are not opposites.

Alignment with a mission is not something you perform. You live it.

You read this posting and felt something, not because it described a job, but because it described the standard you already hold yourself to.

VALUES ALIGNMENT

Livewell serves families who have chosen a private, values-aligned education because it reflects their convictions about how their children should be raised and taught. Our community is private and selective, built on the shared belief that parents are the primary authority in their child's life.

The right Lead Educator understands and respects that. Families at Livewell hold a wide range of personal beliefs, health philosophies, and convictions. The Lead Educator's role is to hold space for all of it with genuine respect and complete neutrality, never sharing personal opinions on politics, religion, health choices, or ideology with children or families.

If you are someone who leads with curiosity, respects parental authority, and can serve a diverse community of conviction-driven families without judgment or agenda, we want to hear from you.

If that kind of neutrality feels limiting rather than liberating, this is not the right opportunity.

WHAT THIS ROLE IS NOT

If you have taught before, you know what the work usually costs. The grading that eats your evenings. The weekend prep nobody accounts for. The way the job follows you home and sits down at the table with you.

That is not how this works.

Your prep happens inside your paid day. Planning days and rest days are set in the calendar before the year begins, not found later when someone notices people are worn out. When you leave the studio, the day is closed. Nothing trails you home.

The compensation is real, and so is the care behind it, because a good guide is not someone you wear down and replace. That is not how we are built. We are not willing to operate that way.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

Here is what the first six months actually look like. The studio finds a rhythm, and it is yours.

The children stop asking what the standard is, because they can see it in front of them every day. Families reach out because they want to talk to you, not because something went wrong. You take a day off and the program holds, because you built it to.

By the end of the year, the growth is plain enough that the families name it themselves. A child who arrived unsure is running a project, making real decisions, holding the line on her own work. Families renew because what their child has here does not exist anywhere else they looked.

None of it was handed to you. You made it.

THE PRACTICAL DETAILS

Location: Pleasanton, California. Studio location provided after application process is complete.

Schedule: Monday through Friday. 8am to 5pm. Full time. In studio. Prep time is compensated. Work stays at work.

Calendar: Year-round with structured rest days, paid planning days, and specific professional development days built into the program calendar throughout the year.

Compensation: Annual Service Contribution of $90,000 with performance-based bonus potential of up to $20,000 annually, evaluated across three review periods throughout the year.

Time Off: Five paid personal wellness days annually plus approx 28 scheduled rest days in Year One. Increases with time. Paid planning days built into the program calendar.

Benefits: Health benefits are not provided.

This is a Contractor Member invitation within a private ministry community, not a statutory employment offer. Candidates who advance in the process will receive full details about the nature of this relationship before any commitment is made.

Relocation support is not provided. Please confirm that you are local to the Pleasanton area or willing to relocate independently by July 31, 2026.

QUALIFICATIONS

Three or more years of experience working directly with children ages 6 through 14 in an educational or youth program setting.

Experience leading or facilitating in a private, independent, alternative, or non-traditional learning environment preferred.

Experience designing and executing structured academic programs including project-based, interdisciplinary, or inquiry-based learning.

Experience independently managing an educational environment or youth program with minimal oversight.

Experience communicating regularly and proactively with families or parents about student progress.

THE APPLICATION PROCESS

Our hiring process is designed to surface what matters most and what cannot be performed.

1 | Brief Introduction: Send a genuine and specific introduction to ***email_hidden***. Tell us who you are, what drew you to this posting, and what you have built.

2 | Written Application: Qualified candidates are invited to complete five written questions. Depth and specificity are everything. Vague or generic responses do not advance. Our Founder will reply to you directly.

3 | Discovery Conversation: An honest conversation with the Founder about Livewell, what it is, how it operates, and what we value. This is your chance to decide if this is a place you actually want to be. And ours.

4 | Execution Audition: An independent work task completed before any offer is made. This is the most important step in our process.

5 | Final Interview: Panel conversation with Program Director and Education Advisors.