Early Childhood Lead Teacher

Early Childhood Lead Teacher

Richmond Waldorf School (RWS) seeks candidates for the position of Early Childhood Lead Teacher . 

About Richmond Waldorf School

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.

To read more about our school, please go to our website at . 

Position Responsibilities

Summary:

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

Essential Functions:

• 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

Competencies:

• 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 children 
• Engages in on-going professional and personal growth. Maintain a high level of initiative for continuous learning and mentoring.
• Maintaining an openness to understand and work with the Anthroposophical underpinnings of Waldorf Education and child development
• The class teacher serves as the leader of the class community and oversees its educational, social and practical functions.
• Excellent human relationship skills with children and adults
• Positive, professional relationships with colleagues
• Positive, professional relationships with parents and volunteers
• Clear and timely communication with parents and colleagues
• Excellent oral and written communication skills

Supervisory Responsibilities

Train and oversee work of the assistant teacher and provide on-going mentoring

Position Type and Expected Hours of Work:

• The school work calendar includes two weeks before and one week after the close of the academic year, and additional times as the school deems necessary.
• Employee's work extends beyond the scheduled school days to include open houses, work days, festivals, and community events. 
• Employee will arrive at school by 7:45 a.m. and may leave after 3:15 on days when there are no meetings. Employee will work with their class from 8:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Experience

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited institution
• Certification in Waldorf teacher training or agreement to obtain Waldorf Certification
• Experience and education (to be determined by the Faculty College).

Preferred:

• Waldorf teaching experience
• Other teaching experience

Physical Demands

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk and hear. This position is very active and requires standing, walking, bending, kneeling, stooping, crouching, crawling, and climbing. The employee must frequently lift and/or move items up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.

Compensation and Benefits 

This is a 40-hour per week position. The salary rate for this regular, full-time, exempt position is $41,000 to $65,000 per year, depending on exact experience and qualifications. This is a 10-month school year position beginning on or around July 1, 2026. RWS offers the following benefits to full-time staff:

• Health, Dental and Vision insurance 
• Life insurance 
• Short- and Long-Term Disability insurance 
• 80 hours Paid Time Off (PTO) per fiscal year (July 1 to June 30)
• Paid Holidays & School Breaks (subject to finalized school schedule each year)
• 90% Tuition remission for dependent child/ren enrolled at RWS
• Free Aftercare for dependent children during scheduled work hours (children must also be enrolled in a school program.)

To apply

Interested applicants should complete the application and submit their resume and cover letter HERE . Priority consideration will be given to candidates that apply by April 30, 2026; the position will remain open until filled.