Employment at Prairie Song is open to everyone, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, marital status, citizenship, national origin, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Open Opportunities for Employment
Openings for 2023-2024 School Year: Lead, Assistant, and Substitute Guides
We are seeking creative, enthusiastic, nurturing, compassionate, encouraging guides to join our team this fall in supporting the educational development of our students at our Montessori-based school!
Why teach at Prairie Song?
Teach the way students learn
The more experience you have with students, the more you know that many elements of traditional education don’t line up with the way students really learn. We’ve cut all of that out, and you get to implement all of the strategies and activities you know would work if you just had the time and freedom to do them! Extended blocks for subjects, opportunities for student choice and risk taking…we have it, and we’re always flexible!
Avoid burnout with breaks
Teaching is intense. The planning, the constant adjustments and decision making, the emotional investment you have in your students…it all weighs on you. You can’t carry that load without rest, so we’ve added additional WEEKS of rest into our school calendar. Two weeks during each semester, and four weeks between winter and spring semesters. Rest, refresh, reset. You’ll feel good knowing you’re at your best!
Get support from others
Teaching can be isolating and lonely, and it can also involve a lot of drama. You won’t find any of that at Prairie Song. We co-teach and collaborate across levels as a regular part of our practice. You’re never it in alone. It’s never a competition. We get to know one another’s strengths, and we utilize them. We know our weaknesses, and we support each other. We like each other, and we truly work together all year long!
Get paid to plan weekly work
For too long teaching has relied on unpaid work planning and grading. We’re working to change that. We can’t pay for all of our lead guides’ planning time yet, but we do pay half of the amount of time you’re leading instruction as plan time. Leading physics for two hours a week? You’ll get paid for one additional hour of off-site planning, at the same rate. And when there’s an opportunity for you to squeeze some planning in while you’re on site, we encourage you to take that, too!
No dress code
We don’t rely on a dress code to create an aura of authority so that students will do what we tell them. We cultivate respect for one another regardless of dress. Feel your best when you’re wearing a suit? Go for it! Want to come to school in your sweatpants? Feel free! We want you to be comfortable and feel great, so wear what works for you. The only thing we absolutely don’t allow are clothes with words/images that are unkind or degrading to another human.
No grades or
tests
Most teachers’ number one barrier to innovation in instruction is that they would have to figure out how to grade the outcome. Students’ biggest barrier to academic risk taking is the fear of getting bad grades. We’ve eliminated it. Never grade an assignment again. Provide feedback, yes. But much of our instruction is designed to be self-correcting or project based, so you won’t ever have piles of grading to do. You can do ALL the fun stuff, and they’ll be learning and growing!
Interested in joining our team?
Successful candidates will demonstrate a commitment and ability to support our educational philosophy. Applicants should be committed to student-centered instruction, a collaborative teaching model, and the integration of social justice into all areas of the curriculum. Applicants should be capable of modeling courteous and respectful behavior and contributing to the warm, supportive atmosphere that is the hallmark of our educational environment. Applicants who wish to work full time may be experts in a certain content area, but should be well-rounded with a variety of other interests, and willing to act as an assistant guide as well.
For Fall 2023 we’ll be looking for:
*** a co-lead guide for high school chemistry
*** a co-lead guide for high school math
*** a co-lead guide for high school ELA
*** a junior high assistant guide
*** an upper elementary assistant guide
*** a lower elementary assistant guide
You might be interested in teaching all three days, or you might be interested in coming in for a single subject two or three times a week. You also might be interested in serving as a substitute guide. Either way, we’d love to hear from you!
If you’re interested in teaching at Prairie Song, please submit a cover letter of interest introducing yourself and describing your interest in working withus. Please also submit a résumé and the completed application for employment (found below). All documents should be submitted via email to the address indicated on the application.
Prior to considering applying to join our Prairie Song family, please take a few minutes to read through our values to make sure they align with yours.
Application for Employment
Download our application below; it has fillable PDF fields so it can be filled out electronically, or it can be printed and filled in by hand.
Prairie Song Academy 