Preschool Teacher

About Crow’s Path

Crow’s Path is a relationship-centered nonprofit organization whose mission is to connect people of all ages to wildness. Through nature-based education, natural history, earth-based skills, creative play, storytelling, and community building, we cultivate meaningful relationships between people, place, and the more-than-human world.

Statement on Experience, Qualifications & Inclusivity

Crow’s Path is wholly committed to creating, sustaining, and advocating for a safe, welcoming, and respectful community where staff and participants can show up as their full and wild selves. Our staff come from different backgrounds and have taken many different paths to become mentors in our programs. As much as we value practical experience and education backgrounds in hiring, we also value and weigh life experience, knowledge, and soft skills in our hiring process. 

We work to support people of all identities in our programs. Research shows that people from marginalized groups (women, LGBTQ+, and people of color) are less likely to apply for jobs when they do not meet the listed criteria in the job description. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, even if your experience varies from what we have asked for. Above all, we seek applicants who will support our young participants as they navigate their own identities and those of their peers. Applicants should be prepared to engage in discussions with other staff on gender, race, class, and power as topics arise.

Preschool Teacher Summary

Crow's Path is hiring a preschool teacher to join our year-round team! As The Wilds Preschool enters its fourth year, we are looking for a licensed teacher to join our small community of passionate, curious, creative, and experienced educators, storytellers,  artists, naturalists, magic makers (and seekers), explorers, fairy house construction experts,  and adventurers as we seek creative ways to excite the passions of our kids. Our approach to education combines creative play, impromptu storytelling, and freewheeling imagination with more formal instruction of diverse skills and knowledge. We have a solid framework and curricular flow that guides us through the day and across the seasons while maintaining plenty of space for spontaneity. We hope to hire someone who has their own passions in art, nature, adventuring, music, theater, or anything else that generates creative and communal energy.

Location, Work Schedule, and Key Dates

Location: Burlington, Vermont (primarily our basecamp in the Arms Grant Forest as well as indoor classroom space at North Avenue Alliance Church)

Schedule: The position is fulltime, Monday–Friday 7:45am–3:45pm. There are built-in scheduled, paid time off around school vacation weeks and other breaks in our academic calendar.

Dates: For a full schedule of program dates and down weeks, see our family handbook.

Core Responsibilities

Curriculum & Documentation

• Connect curriculum to Vermont Early Learning Standards
• Work with other staff to collaboratively design and lead preschool programming
• Collaborate on seasonal planning
• Document children’s growth and development
• Support long-term curriculum planning
• Organize and engage groups of kids independently and collaboratively
• Design and facilitate activities in all kinds of weather
• Track and attend to the interests, challenges, and growth of participants over the semester
• Facilitate group dynamics that support a variety of gender, racial, and other identities 
• Participate in program and professional development
• Check in regularly with families to discuss the growth and challenges of their kids
• Show up on time and ready to go with materials and ideas for activities

Safety & Risk Management

• Maintain safe learning environments
• Support emergency preparedness
• Maintain a high level of safety in diverse settings
• Mentor risk management procedures
• Ensure children’s physical and emotional well-being

Family Partnerships

• Build trusting relationships with families
• Communicate regularly with parents.  
• Help prepare parent-teacher conferences
• Support family engagement opportunities
• Respond thoughtfully to concerns

Qualifications

Required

• Previous experience working with kids in an outdoor environment
• Commitment to emergent design and flexibility with program implementation
• Ready to share many diverse interests with the Crow’s Path community
• Confident and intuitive 
• In touch with authentic, wild, weird and creative sides
• Flexible, adaptable, comfortable with emergence and improvisation 
• Committed to continued learning and personal growth 
• Committed to creating an inclusive, safe, and welcoming community
• VT state teaching license or ability to qualify as a Teacher Associate or higher

Compensation

Our base pay for teachers is $20/hour, with an additional $4/hour compensation for licensed teachers. In addition to paid holidays, paid sick and personal time, professional development funds, sabbatical opportunities, annual raises and other benefits, this full-time position follows a school-year schedule that provides generous vacation breaks aligned closely with the Burlington School District calendar, supporting rest, renewal, and a healthy work-life balance.

To Apply

Submit responses and upload a resume in the application form 

Anti-discrimination policy

Crow’s Path is an equal opportunity employer, committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace where applicants of every background can thrive. All decisions regarding recruitment, hiring, benefits, wage and salary administration, scheduling, disciplinary action and termination will be made without unlawful discrimination on the basis of sex, gender, race, color, age, national origin, religion, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, citizenship status, pregnancy or maternity, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state or local law.