Literacy Specialist, Alpha - $120,000/year USD

• $120,000 annual salary paid weekly, including health, dental, and vision coverage from day one
• Full-time on-site position at a single Alpha campus: Beverly Hills, La Jolla (San Diego), Lake Forest (Orange County), Piedmont, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, or Santa Monica, CA; Greenwich, CT; Boca Raton, FL; Chicago, IL; Boston, MA; or New York City, NY (relocation assistance available)
• 40-hour work week, 100% classroom-based with students in grades K-3
  
  

Your structured-literacy credential — whether Orton-Gillingham, LETRS, Wilson, IMSE, or a Master's in reading instruction — has opened doors to every K-3 literacy position you've pursued. In most settings, it also defined the limit: you delivered an established program and documented outcomes. At Alpha, the credential is your entry point. If that difference resonates with you, read on.

Alpha has redesigned conventional instruction from the ground up. Academic content is delivered through AI-adaptive applications that students navigate independently. There are no lectures, no textbooks, no predetermined pacing calendars. Your function is where human expertise cannot be replaced. You build 20-minute small-group workshops based on live app analytics; these sessions are intentionally brief, because targeted precision outperforms duration. You also facilitate motivation sessions designed to ensure 100% of students reach their weekly app targets using Alpha's structured motivational framework (campus currency, leaderboards, developmentally appropriate gamification). When you detect a miscue during instruction, you identify the underlying phonemic deficit and revise the next day's workshop before you leave. That is the expectation.

Families enrolling at these locations have selected Alpha for measurable progress, not simply attendance. Parents receive weekly reports on their child's literacy development and they expect transparency. You will field specific questions about individual student advancement, and vague reassurances will not suffice. You must reference the running record, identify the phonemic challenge, and describe your instructional response. This level of accountability should energize you, not weigh you down.

Your initial months focus on establishing credibility in the classroom. Workshops must be engaging, appropriately leveled, and demonstrably effective; student satisfaction and "love your Guide" survey results (target 90% ) provide direct feedback. As you demonstrate success, your influence grows beyond your own classroom: strategies that succeed with your students become templates for other Alpha sites, and your diagnostic precision informs how literacy is approached across the network as Alpha expands. What you develop here extends far beyond your immediate setting.

Before an offer is extended, you will submit a brief video in which you tell an engaging story for young children, and you will complete a full day on campus working directly with K-3 students. Low energy with children will disqualify you, regardless of credential strength. That is intentional. Apply today.

What You Will Be Doing

• Creating small-group K-3 literacy workshops based on real-time adaptive-app performance data, rooted in structured-literacy approaches (Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, LETRS, IMSE, or comparable)
• Leading daily motivation sessions designed to move 100% of students toward their weekly app objectives using Alpha's motivational system (campus currency, leaderboards, age-appropriate gamification)
• Analyzing AI-generated student performance metrics (fluency trajectories, decoding precision, comprehension indicators) to modify instruction during the day, not only during planning periods
• Conducting running records, fluency assessments, and decoding evaluations that yield progress visible in weekly campus data meetings
• Serving as the energetic, approachable adult your K-3 students are excited to see each day
  
  

What You Won’t Be Doing

• Implementing a commercial reading curriculum, scripted lesson sequence, or district pacing calendar; you create lessons directly from student performance data
• Delivering whole-class lectures; all teaching occurs in targeted, small-group formats while students engage with academic content through adaptive applications
• Functioning as a reading consultant, instructional coach for other educators, or district-level specialist; you are in the classroom with students daily
• Managing a traditional classroom schedule: subject-by-subject lectures, homework corrections, test preparation. Your time is structured around workshops, motivation sessions, and data-informed small groups
• Drafting IEPs, 504 plans, or formal diagnostic evaluations; student advancement is documented through app analytics and your running records, not special-education compliance documents
  
  

Literacy Specialist Key Responsibilities

Deliver measurable literacy gains in phonics, fluency, and comprehension for K-3 students within a campus environment where student outcomes are assessed weekly.

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 discipline, plus 2 years of full-time K-3 structured reading instruction in a school or clinical environment within the last 5 years, utilizing systematic phonics or structured literacy
• Proven capacity to independently design reading lessons and clearly explain your instructional approach and content, without depending on a commercial program
• Availability to work on-site full-time at one Alpha campus: Beverly Hills, La Jolla (San Diego), Lake Forest (Orange County), Piedmont, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, or Santa Monica, CA; Greenwich, CT; Boca Raton, FL; Chicago, IL; Boston, MA; or New York City, NY (relocation assistance available)
• Readiness to work with all K-3 students (not exclusively struggling readers) and incorporate AI and adaptive-learning technologies into daily instruction as these tools develop
• Legal authorization to work in the U.S. without need for visa sponsorship
  
  

Nice-to-have Requirements

• Practical experience with AI-driven or adaptive literacy platforms (e.g., Amira, Lexia, i-Ready, Reading Plus) for instructional planning or student data interpretation
• Documented record of measurable literacy outcomes (fluency growth in WCPM, accuracy gains, decoding level progression) you can cite with specific data
• Familiarity with diagnostic literacy assessments (DRA, DIBELS, AIMSweb) for creating differentiated instructional groups
• Background in high-accountability educational settings (independent schools, elite charter networks, premium tutoring programs serving families who closely monitor progress)
• Experience in performance, youth sports coaching, or otherwise engaging K-3 audiences outside traditional reading instruction
  
  

About Alpha

Join the team building school around student growth

Alpha reimagines the school day around faster learning, stronger mentorship, and more time for students to build real-world skills.

Roles with real student impact: Alpha hires teachers (guides), operators, admissions experts, school & curriculum leaders, and remote team members.

Education work that pays like it matters: Alpha offers six-figure roles for people ready to help build a radically better school experience.

A culture built for builders: Alpha is fast-moving, ambitious, and student focused. It’s for people who want to improve the system, not maintain it.

Alpha is where you can do the most meaningful work of your career.

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-5632-US-Newark-LiteracySpecia