Priority Listing Supported Lead Grades Teacher

About Windsong:

Windsong School is committed to teaching according to the methods of Waldorf Education. Our vision is to provide an education that keeps intact a child’s love of learning, cultivates flexible thinking, enriches a connection to nature and the world around them, and provides students with a foundation that will allow them to shape the future positively.

Our faculty-led school shares beliefs that guide us in our work: a willingness to strive and develop, to work out of what we know about child development and Anthroposophy, to teach creatively and with love, and to nurture our parent community. We have a strong in-house mentoring program. New Windsong faculty and staff will join a fun-loving, hardworking, and sincere faculty, will be supported by a friendly and efficient administrative team, and will lead a passionate and engaged parent body.

Windsong serves students in Parent-Child, Early Childhood, and Grades programs that include grades 1-8 as well as six specialty subjects. We have approximately 110 students currently enrolled.

Our school is located above the scenic Spokane River on the historic Mukogawa US 76-acre campus, woven through with antique walkways and quiet tree-lined streets. We enjoy trail access to the Spokane River and abundant nature opportunities. Our campus is only 5 minutes from downtown Spokane.

The Supported Lead Teacher position is a mentored, hand-on professional development opportunity designed to prepare an educator for a future lead grades teaching role. Working alongside an experienced Windsong grades teacher, the Supported Lead will gradually develop the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed to lead as a Waldorf teacher. Responsibilities include observing and participating in classroom instruction, supporting classroom management, assisting students with academic and practical work, contributing to lesson and curriculum development, assigned and self-motivated study of curriculum and other preparatory materials, engagement in self-study work, working one-on-one with their mentor teacher outside of classroom hours, and becoming familiar with the rhythm and responsibilities of a Waldorf grades classroom.

Whenever possible, the Supported Lead Teacher will work with the same class they are preparing to lead in future years, allowing meaningful relationships with students to develop over time.

Requirements:
Ideal candidates are experienced teachers who are Waldorf-certified or enrolled in a training program and possess a Bachelor's degree. At a minimum, prospective candidates will be willing to pursue certification as Waldorf teachers, have experience working with student-aged children, and have the equivalent of two years of higher education.

Benefits and Salary:
Benefits include 100% tuition remission, professional development support, one week of personal time off, and five weeks of school-year holiday. The position will begin at 0.8 FTE while the teacher works in a supported lead role, receiving mentorship and guidance as they develop the skills and experience needed to independently lead the class. Upon successfully transitioning into full responsibility for the class, the position will increase to 1.0 FTE, with an annual salary of $42,000.

Waldorf education rests on the tenets of Anthroposophy, a spiritualized philosophy that informs our outlook on the human experience. Our educational practices rest on the observations and insights of Waldorf educators who use Anthroposophy as a framework, along with mainstream research on effective educational practices and child development. Windsong School's Early Childhood Program is a Full Member of Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN).

Windsong practices teacher looping, a foundational feature of Waldorf education, in which a teacher remains with the same class for multiple years to support continuity and deep relationship-building. In Windsong's Mixed-Age Kindergarten program, children typically stay in the same class with the same teacher until they move into 1st grade. In the Grades program, students often continue with the same teacher for multiple years, and in some cases through 8th grade.

At the same time, as a small school, Windsong remains responsive to the needs of the organization and individual classes. Teacher assignments may occasionally be adjusted with careful attention to the health and needs of the school community as a whole.