About Montessori Center School

Founded in 1965, Montessori Center School of Santa Barbara (MCS) is an independent school and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The school boasts sixty years rich in a history of nurturing a lifelong love for learning among children ages 18 months through 6th grade – grounded in the Montessori method. An American Montessori Society Member School, MCS fosters independent, self-motivated, confident, life-long learners, who will become positive forces to care for and transform our world. The school is located on a beautiful garden campus in Goleta, California.

About the Opportunity 

MCS seeks an experienced and certificated Montessori Primary Lead Teacher. This is an opportunity to work with our wildly talented and committed staffulty and wonderful students and families as you lead a classroom of approximately 24 students through the Primary years of their early childhood Montessori learning journeys.

Overseeing a Co-teacher, and working in a highly collaborative manner with the whole Primary team, you will carefully curate a welcoming, orderly, beautiful and resource-rich environment and will deliver a high-fidelity Montessori learning experience for our students each day, nurturing their independence, curiosity and love for learning.

Roles & Responsibilities

The Primary Lead Teacher will perform the following duties:

Classroom Environment

• Design and maintain a calm and joyful Montessori Primary environment that nurtures a high quality, developmentally early childhood program – both social learning and academic skills.
• Build warm and nurturing rapport with each of your students and establish strong routines for the classroom that help the students learn how to be independent and thrive within the boundaries of the environment.

Observation & Record-keeping 

• Oversee students’ progression through the curriculum, ensuring that each child is pursuing a well-designed program that best reflects their unique learning style.
• Conduct child observations regularly, documenting these through the school’s shared online learning management system (TransparentClassroom).
• Utilize child observations and your data and records to lesson-plan and  inform daily choices regarding each child’s support and program.

Family Engagement

• Be an excellent communicator with parents; work to engage parents and caregivers as great partners in each student’s educational process.
• Utilizing school-wide protocols, share data and updates routinely with families regarding their children’s academic and social development.
• Be responsive, receptive and welcoming of parent/caregiver inquiries and feedback. 
• Share weekly classroom updates with families, host family gatherings (potlucks, etc.) and classroom visitations, and be each of your students’ families’ go-to person in the school.
• Participate in the life of the school community by supporting annual events including occasional weekend commitments (e.g the fall harvest festival, annual benefit auction).

Teamwork & Learning

• Embody MCS’s core values in your daily interactions with children, families and staffulty.
• Seek out and embrace opportunities for collaboration with colleagues across the school.
• Model lifelong learning: Seek out opportunities for learning and development, including opportunities to learn from peer feedback from your colleagues.

• Be an engaged and committed coach, mentor and manager to the Co-teacher working alongside you in your classroom.  Support their learning, development and success.

Qualifications

Successful candidates for this role will evidence the following qualifications:

Experience & Professional Qualifications

• A bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university
• A Primary level teaching certification from a MACTE-accredited teaching program
• Experience working in a Montessori Primary classroom (3+ years preferred)
• Excellent written and oral English communication skills

Mindsets

• Commitment to MCS’ mission, vision and core values
• Demonstrated capacity to collaborate effectively as a member of a results-oriented, high-performing team
• Passion for serving children of all learning styles and abilities
• Commitment to living out principles of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging
• Sound professional judgment and decision-making skills 
• Capacity to share and receive and implement feedback with grace and agility
• High level of emotional intelligence, integrity and humor
• High level of personal organization, planning and follow-through
• Ability to recognize and embrace that perfect is the enemy of good

Compensation

This is a salaried, exempt full-time position 40 hours per week, 10 months per year. Compensation for this position is competitive and commensurate with starting annualized salary for experienced applicants ranging from $58,000 to $80,000 annually. Full-time employees of MCS are eligible for comprehensive health and wellness benefits, 403b retirement plan matching and paid time off (PTO). 

To Express Interest

To express your interest in this role with MCS, please email a one-page cover letter and one- or two-page professional resume to Head of School, Vanessa Jackson: v.jackson@mcssb.org. Resumes will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and we aim to make a hire for this role by February 1, 2025.