Montessori-Inspired Educator — Mixed-Age Studio (Ages 5–8)
Trellis: An Acton Academy · Vancouver, BC Full-time, permanent · Starts mid-August 2026 $28.00 to $29.00 per hour · Seven-hour days on a school-year rhythm
You have wanted to build a culture where children are treated as capable — not someday, but now. A culture where adults ask better questions instead of giving quick answers. Where support does not become rescue. Where mistakes are not emergencies, but material for growth. Where agency, honesty, responsibility, focus, courage, and repair are practiced daily, not printed on a wall.
Maybe you have believed this for years.
Maybe you have seen what children can become when adults stop doing the work for them.
But you have not found the right place to build it.
Trellis may be that place.
Trellis: An Acton Academy is opening in Vancouver in September 2026 as a small learner-driven community for up to nine founding learners, ages five to eight. We are part of the Acton Academy network — more than 300 learner-driven communities worldwide.
We are looking for our Founding Guide — not a conventional teacher, not a classroom manager, and not the adult at the centre of the room.
This is a founding role. The first Guide will shape the culture of Trellis for years to come. And you will not do it buried in logistics: one of our founders is in the studio every day with a single job — removing every friction, carrying everything that is not guiding, so that your whole attention belongs to the children.
At Trellis, children are not passive recipients of instruction. They are learners who build independence, take responsibility, work toward mastery, practice self-governance, reflect honestly, and grow through meaningful challenge.
Our first-year studio will be intentionally small, mixed-age, and tech-free — and outdoors every day, rain or shine.
The Guide's work is to prepare the environment, launch meaningful challenges, ask strong questions, observe carefully, hold calm boundaries, protect the culture, and help learners do the work that belongs to them.
In this role, you will need to be:
- Present without taking over.
- Supportive without rescuing.
- Warm but firm.
- Firm without becoming controlling.
- Comfortable with failure, repair, and honest reflection.
- Serious about building culture through daily practice, not slogans.
Montessori training or experience is a strong plus. So is time with children ages five to eight in any learner-driven setting — forest school, Reggio, homeschool co-ops, camps, outdoor programs. This can be your first lead role: we care about instincts, judgment, humility, and who you are in a room with children. Acton's guide training and a worldwide network of guides come with the job.
A teaching certificate is not required.
Where this goes
The growth is real. Trellis is built to expand: in 2027 we grow toward 15–20 learners — your studio grows, and your role and compensation grow with it.
The offer
$28.00 to $29.00 per hour, full-time: seven-hour days on a school-year rhythm, mid-August through June. This is a permanent role with a founder at your side and a growth path in writing — we are hiring someone to grow with Trellis.
You will need to be eligible to work in Canada, with a vulnerable-sector criminal record check and first aid certification before your start date — we will help you arrange both.
How to apply
Do not start with a resume. Start with how you think.
Email [email protected] with three things:
One: A short note — who you are and why this caught your attention. A few paragraphs, not a cover letter.
Two: Your answer to this question, in about 200 words: Tell us about a time you watched a child struggle with something hard and chose not to take over. What did you notice? What did you do instead? What happened?
Three: A two-minute video of you telling a story. Any story you love telling. A phone camera is perfect. We are not looking for production quality.
We review applications as they arrive and want our Founding Guide in place by mid-August. Finalists will spend a morning with children from our founding families, running a real session — because the only way to know if this fits is to see you in the room.
Trellis: An Acton Academy is an independently owned Acton affiliate serving homeschooling families — parents retain full educational responsibility for their children.
Pay: $28.00-$29.00 per hour
Work Location: In person
