EMPLOYMENT AT SPRING RIVER: Join the Homeschool Revolution
Current Open Positions
2021-2022 School Year
Middle School Teacher Assistant, Grades 6-7 (view Job Description)
Substitute Teachers, Grades K-8 (view Job Description)
2022-2023 School Year
Class Teachers, Grades 1-6 (view Job Description)
Forest School Teacher (Nature Immersion Class) (view Job Description)
Forest School Teacher's Assistant (view Job Description)
Email: admin@springriverschool.org Attn: Carrie Zarka Dooley, Program Director
Our School
Spring River School is an initiative of Jacksonville Educational Community, a non-profit educational organization. Spring River was founded by parents and local educators from the community who were driven by a common desire to create a transformative educational experience focused on the whole-child approach. This led to the creation of Jacksonville's first Waldorf-inspired K-8 outdoor education program.
We began in 2014 by gathering in local parks for seasonal community festivals and parent education study groups. The following year we began offering homeschool enrichment classes that included World Languages, Movement, Handwork, Nature Immersion, and Dramatic Arts. Based on the needs of our growing community, we expanded to include a full offering of academic main lessons and enrichment classes, all taught by experienced professional educators. We also developed the area's first K-5 Nature Immersion Forest School, which meets in local preserves and parks.
Spring River was established out of love and respect for childhood and a common understanding that teaching is an art. We serve approximately 100 students from all over the Jacksonville area. We are excited about our newest offering: Spring River's Dewdrops, an unstructured parent-led playgroup with outdoor meet-ups once a week at local parks. This playgroup is for caregivers and their young children, ages birth to 5.
Beginning in the fall of 2020, Spring River took our programming 100% outdoors on daily field trips and is the only "All Outdoor School" in Northeast Florida. Our families are registered homeschoolers, and we believe that is what serves our community best at this time; however, our strategic plan includes steps toward Florida Independent School status and AWSNA (Association of Waldorf Schools of North America) accreditation in the future, while still continuing to serve and support our homeschooling families.
Spring River supports and embraces diversity in all of its forms, including differences in ethnicity, cultural and religious heritage, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, geographic origin, and family structure. We provide our students with a rich, inclusive curriculum that reflects the world in which we live and fosters a safe atmosphere where every member of the community is respected, and multiple viewpoints can be peacefully expressed. Diversity within our community is an asset. For this reason, we actively cultivate this diversity in all aspects of school life including the composition of our student body, staff, and leadership. We commit to work through the tensions that arise in the midst of genuine community and to use those tensions as a vehicle to self-reflect critically and fearlessly. We believe this commitment to diversity will help prepare today’s children for tomorrow’s world.
Our Community
With the support of our community, we are working toward building a campus that will be home to outdoor pavilions and a biodynamic garden. In the meantime, our classes, which for several years operated indoors in churches and community centers, have been moved to local parks steps from the ocean in the Beaches Area. Our teachers and families are committed to outdoor schooling and to our mission to encourage independent thought, nourish imagination and cultivate social responsibility. We believe that our connection to nature helps us all learn to be better stewards of the world around us. Jacksonville is a welcoming, multicultural city that offers "big city" amenities that include a flourishing art and theater scene, street fairs and markets, thriving museums, professional sports, and world-class fishing. We are blessed with year-round outdoor living whether on the historic St. Johns River, eco-adventures along our shaded forest trails, or sandy walks on our 22 miles of friendly neighborhood beaches. Jacksonville proudly boasts the largest urban park system in the country with more than 80,000 designated acres including 400 city parks, seven state parks, two national parks, and dozens of gardens and arboretums [from visitjax.com].
EOE Statement: We are an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.
It is the policy of Spring River School to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, age, religion, national origin, disability, status as a covered veteran, or any other legally protected status, in accordance with federal and state law, and not to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruitment, hiring, placement, compensation, benefits, promotion, demotion, layoff, termination and all other terms and conditions of employment.