Guide/Teacher for Lower Elementary Studio

Do you crave the excitement of working in a new business with a team of lifelong learners who are changing the vision of school?

Start Date: July 1, 2023

If your passion is to fuel the love of learning in others while advancing your own personal and professional growth, this is your chance to get in on the ground floor of one of the world’s most innovative schools.

Acton Academy Charleston is a new affiliate of Acton Academy, the first in South Carolina.  The original Acton Academy was founded in 2009 in Austin, TX.  Acton Academy Charleston is a private micro-school and learner-driven community with the mission that each person who enters its doors will be inspired to find a calling that will change the world.  At Acton Academy Charleston we combine elements of the Montessori method with Socratic guiding, hands-on experiential learning and interactive technology. Underlying our method is an application of the Hero’s Journey creating a lively learning environment that feels more like an adventure than school.

At Acton, we have mixed-aged classrooms called studios with a self-paced learning design as opposed to grade-levels. Our real world-oriented quests in the upper studios culminate in a public exhibition of learning as opposed to test scores and report cards. In all areas of Acton life, our students are empowered to be in the driver’s seat of their learning. 

Our Guides have the opportunity to grow and learn alongside a hands-on school Founder, and ultimately open his or her own Acton Academy or take on a leadership role with Acton Academy Charleston.

Our Guides will pursue a six week Quest, prior to the start of school, to understand how to work with the Acton Academy learning design, processes and systems. Ongoing learning will be expected.

• If interested, as your first step please read deeply through our website: https://actonacademycharleston.org/.  Then, if you’d like to begin the process to apply for this world-changing opportunity, please email your resume to Pam Coleman at guidejob@actonacademycharleston.org.  She will send you the first steps to pursue this extraordinary opportunity.

We are seeking a full time Lower Elementary School Guide to work with children ages 5 through 8.  The ideal candidate is one with Montessori experience, but is also open to 21st century learning options.  We prefer someone who has managed mixed-age groups of children and has coached or mentored.

Our Guide candidate will have a passion for disruptive education opportunities, be deeply curious and ready to learn and work hard. The most successful Guides are readers with a deep heart for children and a trust and respect for a child's ability to learn and grow without heavy adult intervention. Guides should be kind-hearted and tough-minded. A Guide should have a calm demeanor and feel secure in being on a Hero’s Journey.

Our Guide will equip our Eagles (a name for our learners) to explore and take ownership of their learning, monitor progress on Montessori curriculum, and create life-oriented projects that nurture curiosity.

The Lower Elementary Guide will:
- greet learners in the morning and help with afternoon pick up
- plan the schedule for the studio
- send information and photos to parents through the school app
- demonstrate use of materials and encourage children to take ownership
of their learning as swiftly as possible
- facilitate peaceful resolution of conflict until learners can do so alone
- supervise lunch, outdoor play, and loose parts play with minimal intervention
- lead simple Socratic discussions and empower learners to master this skill
- adhere to contracts with the Studio and Owner
- meet regularly with Owner and other Guides to discuss learners and practice
skills
- model the Hero's Journey, growth mindset, and being a lifelong learner for
the Studio

- Has experience planning and implementing games or projects
- Agile with online learning
- Excellent writing and interpersonal communication skills
- Entrepreneurial thinker
- Can manage mixed-age groups
- Able to work independently
- Will engage in positive collaboration with peers and mentor