First Grade Lead Teacher

Job Description

Job Description

Thrive Education Partners is seeking a First Grade Lead Teacher for a growing independent school in Miami, Florida. This is a full-time, on-campus position beginning as soon as a strong candidate is identified, and the teacher is employed directly by the school.

The school believes children learn best when their academic, emotional, and physical development are supported together, and the program is built around that premise rather than adding it on top of a conventional curriculum. Instruction is expected to be rigorous and hands-on at the same time, with longer-term projects, cross-curricular connections, and real-world application running through the year rather than appearing as occasional special activities. First grade is one of the most formative years in a child's education, and the lead teacher carries the academic, social, and emotional development of the class.

The right candidate is an experienced primary-grade educator who wants both autonomy and accountability. Strong curricular resources and clear expectations are in place, and what the school asks in return is that you use your own creativity and professional judgment rather than following a script. This is an especially good fit for a teacher who wants to help build something, brings ideas forward, works through problems with colleagues, and treats coaching as part of getting better.

The position follows the school calendar, Monday through Friday on campus, with a recurring late day for faculty meetings. The teacher works closely with the elementary principal, instructional specialists, and grade-level colleagues, and is expected to build direct, proactive relationships with families.

About the School

The school describes itself as an entrepreneurial school, and it means that literally: students design and run real ventures, and financial literacy sits alongside reading and math as something explicitly taught. Project-based learning is the default mode rather than an occasional unit, with instruction built around hands-on challenges that reach past the textbook into real problems. Emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and personal purpose are taught directly and woven through the academic day, so a teacher here is responsible for how children learn to regulate, connect, and persist as much as for what they know.

Days include STEAM work, robotics, speech and debate, frequent field trips, and outdoor and farm-based learning on campus, and class sizes are small enough that individualized attention is a working condition rather than an aspiration. Students are expected to develop self-awareness, resilience, creativity, and independence on the same timeline as their academic skills.

Families are treated as genuine partners, and teachers build proactive, thoughtful relationships with parents rather than communicating only when something goes wrong. The culture is both high-expectation and highly supportive: teachers are given meaningful autonomy and encouraged to bring ideas to the table, and they are also coached closely and held to what they commit to.

What You'll Do

• Design and deliver first-grade instruction that balances academic rigor with inquiry, creativity, and hands-on work.
• Build a classroom that is organized, bright, and calm while remaining active, with students meaningfully engaged rather than passively receiving instruction.
• Differentiate instruction for individual learning needs while holding high expectations for every student.
• Use the established core curriculum as a starting point, bringing your own judgment and imagination to how learning experiences are built.
• Run longer-term projects as a consistent feature of the year, with cross-curricular and entrepreneurial connections built in.
• Teach independence, confidence, curiosity, and emotional regulation alongside academic skills.
• Monitor progress through formative classroom assessment, curriculum-based measures, and NWEA MAP assessments administered three times per year.
• Adjust instruction in response to assessment data and daily classroom observation.
• Communicate with families proactively and consistently throughout the year.
• Collaborate with colleagues, school leadership, and instructional specialists on curriculum, individual students, and schoolwide priorities.
• Participate in coaching, professional development, and reflective conversations about your practice.

What Makes Someone Successful

• Reflective. You think carefully about your own practice and recognize how your communication and emotional state shape what happens in your classroom.
• Relationship-driven. You believe children learn best when they feel known, safe, challenged, and supported, and you build those relationships deliberately.
• Highly collaborative. You communicate openly, seek input, and genuinely enjoy working alongside other educators.
• Growth-minded. You welcome coaching and treat professional growth as ongoing rather than as something that happens once a year.
• Flexible and resilient. When a plan does not work, your instinct is to adapt and keep moving rather than to wait for direction.
• Creative and entrepreneurial. You enjoy designing experiences, trying new approaches, and making learning feel alive to six- and seven-year-olds.
• Proactive. You notice what needs to happen and take initiative rather than waiting for someone else to solve it.
• Grounded. You navigate difficult moments with students, parents, and colleagues calmly and productively.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in education or a related field
• Elementary classroom teaching experience, ideally within the primary grades
• Strong grounding in elementary instruction and child development
• Demonstrated ability to differentiate instruction and design engaging learning experiences
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to build strong, positive relationships with students, families, and colleagues
• Authorization to work in the United States
• Residence in the Miami area, or willingness to relocate

Preferred Qualifications

• Training or experience in Conscious Discipline, or a similar relationship-based approach to social-emotional learning and classroom management
• Experience with project-based or interdisciplinary learning
• Experience building entrepreneurship or authentic real-world application into instruction
• Independent or private school experience
• Experience contributing to innovative curriculum design
• Familiarity with NWEA MAP or another growth-based assessment system
• Training in structured literacy or evidence-based early literacy practices

Professional Standards

• Ability to successfully complete all required employment screenings and background checks
• Verifiable references from prior teaching roles, including at least one direct supervisor or administrator
• Strong professionalism, discretion, and adaptability within a close school community
• Comfort maintaining confidentiality regarding students and families

Benefits

Logistics & Compensation

• Location: Miami, Florida
• Setting: On campus
• Schedule: Monday through Friday, approximately 7:45 a.m. to 4:00/4:30 p.m.
• Faculty meetings: Tuesdays until approximately 5:30 p.m.
• Start: As soon as possible
• Compensation: $50,000 to $69,000 annually, depending on experience, education, and overall fit
• Employment: Full-time employee of the school
• Relocation: Relocation assistance may be available for an exceptional candidate

Support

• Dedicated Thrive support throughout the recruitment, interview, and placement process
• An engaged elementary principal who maintains a strong presence throughout the school day and provides regular individual support on instructional planning, classroom needs, and specific students
• Specialists in social-emotional and behavioral support, learning differences, reading and structured literacy, and targeted intervention and remediation
• Dedicated teacher training and professional development
• Regular coaching and feedback throughout the year rather than a single annual evaluation
• Meaningful autonomy within an established curricular framework
• Small class sizes that make individualized instruction practical

Why This Role

Most elementary teaching jobs ask you to deliver a curriculum. This one asks you to build with it. The core program and the resources are in place, and the expectation is that you extend them into projects, cross-curricular work, and real-world learning that would not exist without you. Teachers who want to be trusted as professionals rather than managed as implementers tend to find that trade worth making.

The school is still growing, which means the shape of first grade is not fixed and the person in this role has real influence over what it becomes. If you want to spend the next several years getting better at your craft in a community that is paying attention, this is a strong place to do it.

About Thrive Education Partners

Thrive Education Partners connects exceptional educators with schools and families seeking thoughtful, values-aligned educational experiences. We believe outstanding teaching transforms lives, and that the strongest placements happen when an educator's strengths, philosophy, and goals genuinely align with the community they are joining.

Our role is not simply to fill a vacancy. We work to understand both the educator and the school deeply so that both parties can determine whether an opportunity has the potential to become an exceptional long-term fit.

Thrive Education Partners is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and make hiring decisions based on experience, skills, and business needs, without regard to any status protected by applicable law.