Early Childhood Lead Teacher

Richmond Waldorf School is seeking an Early Childhood Lead Teacher.

The role of the Early Childhood Lead Teacher is to understand, develop, implement and maintain a program which embodies the core principles of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America. The child’s school experience will focus on play, movement, practical skills, artistic activities and exploring social relationships where each child’s unique capacities are nurtured.

Richmond Waldorf School was founded in 1996 with a passion for providing children a holistic education that falls in alignment with their natural human development through hands‑on, nature‑rich, and play‑based experiences. We are dedicated to providing a learning environment that cultivates creative thinking, genuine inquiry, and a love of learning. RWS has grown from a single Kindergarten classroom to a campus that serves 200 students from Pre‑K through 8th grade.

Our specialty program includes Movement Arts, French, Biking, Handwork, Music and Strings, Woodwork, Visual Arts, and Latin. Richmond Waldorf School is a Candidate School of AWSNA (Association of Waldorf Schools of North America), SAIS (Southern Association of Independent Schools) and is a member of WECAN (Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America). We have a College, Board of Trustees, and Parents Association that help ensure support for the health of the school.

Our school is located on a beautiful, urban campus in the Northside of Richmond, Virginia in close proximity to Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Richmond, and only a few hours from the Blue Ridge Mountains, Washington, DC, and the coastal beaches of Virginia and North Carolina. Richmond is a rapidly growing city with amazing restaurants, a thriving art and music scene, and a plethora of outdoor parks and walking trails.

The James River winds its way through the heart of the city, offering four seasons of adventure and beauty.

• Prepare a developmentally‑appropriate Waldorf program and rhythm for indoors and outdoors in mixed‑age class (3.5‑5.3 year olds) by preparing and leading daily activities such as bodily care, circle, imaginative play, story & puppetry, handcrafts, painting, practical home‑like activities, snack, and outdoor activities
• Foster each child’s growth through observation, study, documentation, activity, and Waldorf pedagogy guided by Anthroposophy
• Participate in enrollment, all‑school, and festival activities and events
• Attend Early Childhood Teacher meetings and Faculty meetings each week
• Cultivate strong relationships with parents through regular communication, parent‑teacher conferences, parent enrichment meetings, and end‑of‑year reports. Maintains positive relationships with parents and responds to concerns
• Develop and maintain a safe, harmonious, and nurturing environment for the children to learn and develop. Guiding and redirecting children’s behavior while maintaining self‑esteem.
• Develop and maintain a clean, orderly classroom environment
• Maintains positive relationships with parents and responds to all parent concerns
• Maintains positive, professional relationships with colleagues and responds to all collegial concerns
• Engages in on‑going professional and personal growth
• Fulfills other duties, as assigned, relative to the job responsibilities
• Ability to teach and help foster young children’s development with the understanding that young children learn primarily through imitation. Special attention is placed in bringing meaningful activities and movement, nourishing images and speech, and creating an environment imbued with joyfulness
• Ability to guide children toward independence, coordination, cooperation, social awareness, and a feeling of belonging to the group as a whole
• Work closely and cooperatively with early childhood faculty and maintain positive, professional relationships with all faculty and staff.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Works with mentor at least bi‑weekly (weekly during 1st year of teaching)
• Competence with email, Zoom, Google, and general office equipment.
• Researches the curriculum and methodologies for working with young…