Join Our Team

A Thousand Mornings Forest School is hiring for a part-time preschool teacher position, four mornings per week, beginning summer or fall of 2026. We are a warm, play-based, experiential program with a strong focus on social-emotional development, community building, and connection with the natural world.

Our program is entirely outdoors and rooted in the belief that childhood should be spacious, embodied, relational, and deeply connected to the rhythms of the living world. We value curiosity, creativity, collaboration, emotional attunement, and the kind of slow, meaningful learning that emerges through play and relationship.

Description of Position

Teachers are responsible for helping facilitate an age-appropriate, nature-based emergent curriculum for children ages 2.5–5.5 enrolled in our 100% outdoor forest school program. Teachers must model both genuine curiosity and a respectful, grounded relationship with the natural world.

Teacher hours are 8:10 a.m.–12:55 p.m. for a total of 4.75 paid hours per scheduled day, with occasional additional hours for staff meetings, planning, and teacher/director collaboration. The position begins in August and runs through May 2027, with possible summer opportunities available as well.

Responsibilities

  • Maintain frequent and thoughtful communication with co-teachers and director, including daily check-ins, occasional meetings, and timely responsiveness to calls, emails, and texts.

  • Collaborate with co-teachers to create age-differentiated provocations and experiences that support children’s social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development.

  • Help facilitate both small-group and whole-group experiences including storytelling, songs, snack, lunch, hiking, open-ended play, and conflict resolution.

  • Follow A Thousand Mornings Forest School pedagogy, language, and child guidance practices as outlined in the staff handbook.

  • Contribute to an emergent curriculum shaped by the children’s interests, questions, and relationships.

  • Maintain high standards of safety, awareness, cleanliness, and care within a dynamic outdoor environment.

  • Participate in ongoing professional growth and reflective practice.

  • Transport daily program materials in a personal vehicle, including a collapsible wagon, first aid supplies, books, potable water, and play materials (provided by the school).

  • Maintain current Infant/Child CPR and First Aid certification, complete a background check, and provide a current negative TB test.

Physical Requirements

  • Reliable transportation and ability to travel to rotating sites throughout Santa Barbara and Goleta.

  • Comfort working outdoors in a wide range of weather conditions.

  • Ability to sit on the ground, hike, crouch, climb, dance, dig, carry a backpack, and lift up to 40 pounds.

  • Comfort with dirt, mud, bugs, rain, and the beautiful unpredictability of outdoor learning.

Our Ideal Candidate

We are looking for someone who sees this work as meaningful and is interested in growing within outdoor and experiential education over time. Our ideal candidate is grounded, collaborative, self-motivated, communicative, and deeply present with children.

This position is best suited for someone who values both wonder and responsibility — someone who can bring warmth, steadiness, initiative, flexibility, and a strong sense of partnership to a small, close-knit community. Experience in outdoor education is wonderful but not required; openness, emotional maturity, and a genuine desire to learn matter just as much.

Compensation begins at $25/hour, with opportunities for growth based on experience, commitment, and role development.

Please submit both a relevant resume and cover letter to Beth at director@athousandmorningssb.com. We kindly ask that applicants include both materials in order to be considered.