Literacy Specialist, Alpha - $100,000/year USD

• $100,000 annual salary, distributed weekly, with health, dental, and vision coverage starting day one
• Full-time on-campus placement at one Alpha location: Phoenix, AZ; Oklahoma City or Tulsa, OK; Nashville, TN; Austin, Fort Worth, Houston (South Houston or The Woodlands), or Plano, TX; Park City (Salt Lake City), UT; or Dorado, Puerto Rico (relocation assistance available)
• 40-hour workweek, 100% direct classroom time with K-2 learners
  
  

You have invested years becoming fluent in structured literacy. Orton-Gillingham, LETRS, Wilson, IMSE, or a Master's in reading instruction. You listen to a student's reading error and immediately identify the phonemic skill that needs work. You build phonics lessons from scratch, without depending on a boxed program. That expertise is expected. It is not what sets you apart.

What sets you apart is that six-year-olds are excited to see you. At Alpha, this position is first and foremost a Guide role: a dynamic, captivating presence children want to engage with. Your structured-literacy training opens the door; your capacity to hold a K-2 group's full attention for a 20-minute session is what secures the offer. If "dynamic, captivating presence" does not describe you, this position is not a fit.

Alpha has dismantled conventional instruction. Students work through academic content independently on AI-adaptive applications — no lectures, no textbooks, no district pacing calendars. Your role represents the one space where a human specialist cannot be replaced. You build small-group reading sessions based on live student performance data, and you facilitate motivation sessions that push 100% of your students to meet their weekly app targets using Alpha's motivational framework (school currency, leaderboards, age-appropriate gamification).

Your early months focus on establishing credibility with the students. Sessions must be engaging, appropriately leveled, and demonstrably effective. Student satisfaction metrics and "love your Guide" feedback (target 90% ) track this directly. Once you establish that foundation, your responsibilities expand: analyzing AI-generated performance insights to refine upcoming instruction, communicating fluency progress and decoding milestones to families, and contributing to how Alpha's K-2 literacy model develops in tandem with adaptive technology. As Alpha opens new campuses, your work becomes the blueprint for reading instruction across the organization.

Before an offer is extended, you will submit a brief video presenting an engaging story for young children, and you will complete a full day on campus interacting directly with K-2 students. Low energy with children will disqualify candidates, regardless of credential strength. This is intentional. Apply today.

What You Will Be Doing

• Creating and facilitating small-group K-2 reading sessions rooted in structured-literacy approaches (Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, LETRS, IMSE, or equivalent), informed by live student data
• Facilitating daily motivation sessions that ensure 100% of students reach their weekly adaptive-app targets, using Alpha's motivational framework (school currency, leaderboards, age-appropriate gamification)
• Conducting and evaluating running records, fluency assessments, and decoding probes to monitor progress and adjust subsequent instruction
• Analyzing AI-generated performance insights from Alpha's adaptive learning platforms to differentiate instruction on the fly, not only during planning
• Serving as the engaging, energetic adult your K-2 students are excited to see each day
  
  

What You Won’t Be Doing

• Implementing a commercial reading curriculum, scripted program, or district pacing calendar; you create your own lessons based on student data
• Delivering whole-class lectures; all instruction occurs in small, targeted groups and students complete academic subjects through adaptive apps
• Serving as a reading consultant, teacher coach, or district-level specialist; you are in the classroom with students every day
• Managing a traditional classroom schedule — subject-by-subject lectures, homework review, test prep; your time is allocated to workshops, motivation sessions, and data-informed small groups
• Scoring homework or issuing report cards; student progress is captured in app data and your running records
  
  

Literacy Specialist Key Responsibilities

Provide structured-literacy instruction that produces measurable acceleration in K-2 reading outcomes across phonics, fluency, and decoding.

Basic Requirements

• Structured-literacy certification (Orton-Gillingham, LETRS, Wilson Reading System, IMSE, CERI, Neuhaus, UFLI, or equivalent) OR a Master's degree in reading instruction
• Bachelor's degree in any field, plus 2 years of full-time K-2 structured reading instruction in a school or clinical environment, utilizing systematic phonics or structured literacy
• Proven ability to design independent reading lessons and clearly explain what you teach and how, without depending on a published program
• Willingness to work full-time in person at one Alpha campus: Phoenix, AZ; Oklahoma City or Tulsa, OK; Nashville, TN; Austin, Fort Worth, Houston (South Houston or The Woodlands), or Plano, TX; Park City (Salt Lake City), UT; or Dorado, Puerto Rico (relocation assistance available)
• Willingness to work with all K-2 students (not exclusively struggling readers) and to incorporate AI and adaptive-learning tools into everyday instruction
• Legally authorized to work in the U.S. or Puerto Rico without visa sponsorship
• Bilingual English/Spanish required for the Dorado, Puerto Rico campus
  
  

Nice-to-have Requirements

• Direct experience with AI-powered or adaptive reading platforms (e.g., Amira, Lexia, i-Ready, Reading Plus) for instructional planning or student data interpretation
• Documented record of measurable reading gains (fluency growth in WCPM, accuracy improvement, decoding level progression) you can cite with specific numbers
• Experience in non-traditional or innovative educational models (charter, micro-school, Montessori, hybrid)
• Experience performing, coaching youth sports, or otherwise engaging a K-2 audience beyond the reading classroom
  
  

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 $50 USD/hour, which equates to $100,000 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-4849-US-RoundRoc-LiteracySpecia.042