Located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Rio Grande School was founded in 1978 as a Kindergarten - Grade 6 by a group of parents who sought an arts and experiential focus. The following year, the school acquired five acres in the foothills on the east side of Santa Fe and built a modest two-story structure, known today as the Early Childhood Building. As the school approached the 21st century, families and a $6 million-phased capital campaign helped develop the current campus and evolving programming.

Today the school educates an average capacity of 160 students from three years of age to sixth grade. The school has an endowment approaching $6 million, operates debt-free and is fully funded through tuition revenue and targeted fundraising. RGS provides tuition assistance to over 30% of the student body and 30% of its population represents ethnic diversity.

Rio Grande School is accredited through the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools.

The Early Childhood Lead Educator position at Rio Grande School is a full-time, 10-month position in the 3 year-old classroom beginning in August, 2018.

Qualified individuals should have a minimum of three years early childhood classroom experience and are preferred to have attained a degree in Early Childhood Education or Bachelor’s degree with at least 12 college credit hours in Child Development.

Compensation will be determined by years of teaching experience and highest degree earned.  Educators' salaries at Rio Grande are highly competitive.  In addition to salary, the school offers all full-time employees a retirement plan with matching contributions, medical insurance, life insurance, and both short and long term disability insurance.

 The Lead Educator’s responsibilities include:

• Preparing materials and classroom for class activities;
• Instructing students individually and in groups, using a variety of instructional strategies;
• Adapting teaching methods and instructional materials to meet the varying needs and interests of students;
• Implementing accommodations and modifications to classroom curriculum to meet student learning needs;
• Setting expectations for student behavior and classroom decorum;
• Collaborating with co-curricular educators to implement integrated curriculum;
• Meeting with other professionals to discuss individual students' needs and progress;
• Communicating and meeting with parents and guardians to discuss their children’s progress and to determine their priorities for their children and their resource needs;
• Communicating with parents to share daily and weekly classroom news.

 Additional responsibilities include:

• Mentoring, supporting, and guiding the Associate Educator;
• Providing appropriate planning time for the Associate Educator and him/herself.
• Attending professional meetings, educational conferences, and educator training workshops in order to maintain and improve professional competence;
• Attending all faculty meetings;
• Other duties as assigned by the school administration.