At X School, we hire differently. We've been honest with ourselves about what actually makes a child's day great and inspires them to come back, again and again. So we post our guide roles publicly, including to families, because who we hire tells you what we believe.
Not a lecturer. Not a curriculum designer. The daily constant in a learner's life.
A Guide is an educational growth role focused on facilitating self-directed learning. Guides act as mentors who help learners take ownership of their progress, build study skills, and reach personalized goals. You won't stand at the front of a room delivering lessons. You'll walk alongside learners, ask great questions, hold steady when things get hard, and help each child discover what they're capable of.
The learning architecture is designed by our Human Competency and Academic Growth Leads. Guides bring it to life, and more importantly, they bring themselves to it. Your personality, your warmth, and your genuine interest in each child shape the texture of every single day.For families: this means your child won't be managed. They'll be known.
We can train you on our methods. We can't train you to genuinely love kids, to stay calm when things get hard, or to make a ten-year-old feel like the most interesting person in the room. So we hire for those things first.
You remember what a child mentioned last week. You notice when someone is quietly having a hard day. Warmth isn't a performance for you.
For families: your child is seen as an individual, not managed as part of a group.
Learner-centered environments ask more of adults emotionally, not less. You stay present and regulated when things get unpredictable.
For families: the adult holding the space isn't reactive, and your child's nervous system can follow their lead.
You don't have to be an expert in everything. You have to get visibly excited about learning alongside kids. That energy is contagious.
For families: your child is surrounded by adults who model what caring about ideas looks like.
With learners, with each other, and with families. We're not looking for people who over-promise or go quiet when things are hard.
For families: you'll hear the real picture, not a polished version of it.
Guides aren't scripted. You work inside X School's structure and make it your own. We want your voice to actually show up in the room.
For families: your child experiences a real human being, not a role being performed.
X School is a small, founder-led school in an active growth phase. If you thrive where everything is figured out, this isn't the fit. If you love shaping something still taking form, keep reading.
Four areas of responsibility, one purpose: make learning feel real, relevant, and joyful, not like something that happens to children.
Guide learners to set actionable goals, track their own progress, and build independent problem-solving. Build genuine, trusting relationships with each child in your pod: their interests, their struggles, what makes them tick. Give honest, caring feedback, and model curiosity, emotional steadiness, and a growth mindset in everything you do.
Create a learner-driven environment through guiding questions, critical thinking, and collaborative discussion rather than directing from the front. Execute learning plans designed by our Leads, bringing them to life in a way that's authentically yours. Use Socratic methods to deepen curiosity so learners develop their own thinking instead of waiting for answers.
Monitor learner progress and wellbeing on an ongoing basis, surfacing needs and patterns to the Human Competency and Academic Growth Leads. Maintain accurate learner records, contribute to regular family progress updates, and collaborate with the guide team through weekly check-ins and shared planning rhythms.
Tailor activities to the learning styles, paces, and interests in your pod. Help refine study guides and practice materials that make learning accessible and engaging. Keep the environment purposeful, organized, and inviting, and uphold the four freedoms that guide life at X School.
Notice what's missing from the left column. That's deliberate.
A traditional education degree. Formal lesson-planning experience. The planning layer belongs to our Leads, and we're intentionally looking for people who aren't attached to doing school the way it's always been done.
For families reading this: we know that might feel unfamiliar. But the research is clear. What predicts a child's wellbeing and growth is the quality of their relationships with the adults around them, not those adults' credentials. We take that seriously in how we hire.
Five stages, designed so we both find out what it's really like to work together. No trick questions, and a paid trial day, because watching you with learners tells us more than any interview.
Five short questions. Who you are matters more than formatting.
A short async video so we can hear you talk about kids in your own voice.
A live conversation working through real pod moments together.
A day in the pod, with learners. You assess us as much as we assess you.
We talk to people who've watched you work with children.
Skip the traditional cover letter. Tell us who you are, what draws you to this kind of school, and one thing about working with kids that genuinely excites you.
A parent, not a candidate? If something here clicked for you, book a low-pressure Discovery Visit.