Early Childhood Educator, Alpha - $120,000/year USD

• Based onsite in New York City, NY
• $120,000 annual salary, distributed weekly. Full health, dental, and vision coverage begins on day one.
• Relocating? We provide relocation assistance.
  
  

Do you believe meaningful learning begins with joy, movement, and trust?

Alpha School is reimagining education—where children achieve academic mastery quickly and dedicate more time to developing essential life skills. In Pre-K, this foundation begins with something even more critical: emotional security, curiosity, and the resilience to explore.

Your role: guide an in-person NYC Pre-K classroom that cultivates a love of learning while delivering accelerated early-learning outcomes—approximately double the progress typical preschools achieve. You'll create purposeful, sensory-rich play experiences that target developmental milestones, then track progress weekly and adapt rapidly for every child.

NYC offers: Parks ideal for outdoor education, vibrant neighborhoods with engaged family communities, exceptional public transportation, and access to pioneering early childhood education networks.

Foster joy. Accelerate development. Apply today.

What You Will Be Doing

• Plan and lead 30–60 minute play-based learning sessions that foster joy, emotional security, and quantifiable developmental progress
• Build a movement- and sensory-responsive environment that sustains high engagement and supports four-year-olds learning through diverse modalities
• Observe and record in the moment: Collect same-day, factual observations linked to developmental domains, then refresh each child's milestone tracking weekly
• Apply data to inform teaching: Review weekly documentation to pinpoint each child's next developmental priority and design targeted instructional responses
• Create personalized, interest-driven activity modifications anchored in each child's motivations, integrate one precise developmental objective, and reassess impact within two weeks
• Support children through challenges using calm co-regulation and emotional guidance instead of reactive behavioral management
• Share student progress, daily routines, and emerging observations clearly and proactively with families
  
  

What You Won’t Be Doing

• Approach PreK as custodial care instead of purposeful early education
• Default to scripted worksheets or compliance-focused teaching methods
• Spend most of your time supervising academic apps rather than delivering direct, hands-on instruction
• Substitute reactive behavior management for calm co-regulation and emotional coaching
  
  

Early Childhood Educator Key Responsibilities

Ensure NYC Pre-K children develop a love of school while showing accelerated early-learning advancement through purposeful play.

Basic Requirements

• Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education or Child Development, OR CDA/Montessori/Reggio credential
• At least 2 years of experience with 3–5-year-olds in a structured group environment (classroom setting, not exclusively one-on-one care)
• Documented success leading play-based learning that produces measurable developmental gains
• Verified ability to record developmental milestones objectively and reliably on a weekly schedule using a structured framework or rubric
• Strong relationship-building and emotional attunement: Capacity to establish trust rapidly, interpret emotional signals accurately, and apply individualized motivators to drive engagement
• Co-regulation and frustration scaffolding: Support children through emotional escalations using calm modeling and systematic emotional coaching
• Authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship
• Available to work full-time on-site in New York City, NY
  
  

About Alpha

Want to join a learning rebellion that’s transforming the traditional classroom?

Alpha School is on a mission to reshape education with a bold approach that harnesses AI to accelerate learning and unleash student potential.

They don’t play by the old rules.

Alpha is creating a new paradigm where students master core academics in just two hours a day, freeing up time for hands-on, passion-driven learning that truly prepares them for the real world.

Alpha School is rewriting the rules of education.

Sounds too good to be true? It’s not.

There is so much to cover for this exciting role, and space here is limited. Hit the Apply button if you found this interesting and want to learn more. We look forward to meeting you!

Working with us

This is a full-time (40 hours per week), long-term position. The position is immediately available and requires entering into an independent contractor agreement with Crossover as a Contractor of Record. The compensation level for this role is $60 USD/hour, which equates to $120,000 USD/year assuming 40 hours per week and 50 weeks per year. The payment period is weekly. Consult www.crossover.com/help-and-faqs for more details on this topic.

Crossover Job Code: LJ-5746-US-NewYork-EarlyChildhood.001