Overview
This is a .8FTE, exempt faculty position, with potential for 1.0FTE (see the full Job Description on our careers page for details www.sfwaldorf.org/careers)
Start Date: August 1, 2025
Summary:
San Francisco Waldorf High School seeks an enthusiastic and experienced Outdoor Education Program Lead for a position starting with the 2025-2026 school year. This candidate will have a high degree of skill in managing experiential learning environments for adolescents aged 13-19. Deep enthusiasm for transmitting love and respect for nature is a must.
About Waldorf Education:
While Waldorf teacher training is preferred, we welcome strong candidates who demonstrate a willingness to learn about our approach. Successful candidates will be expected to participate in our in-house teacher development program and attend designated professional development days.
Waldorf Education is the fastest growing independent school movement in the world. This dynamic approach to child development and education is continually evolving to meet today’s students and prepare them for tomorrow. Waldorf education inspires life-long learning in students and enables them to fully develop their unique capacities.
San Francisco Waldorf School (SFWS) was founded in 1979 and currently enrolls 380 students throughout a parent-child program, a preschool program, kindergarten, and Grades 1-12. The high school campus is located in the West Portal neighborhood which is easily accessible via public transportation. Fifty percent of high school students identify as multiracial or people of color.
Outdoor Education Program Lead Responsibilities:
Trip Logistics & Risk Management
Serve as lead faculty for all overnight outdoor education programs (approx 35 nights per year)
Scout and book locations for all trips (4‐5 day/3‐4 overnight) for grades 9-12 (approx. 6 trips per school year)
Hold vision for all aspects of on-trip logistics & pre-trip parent and student communications
Develop, oversee and enforce risk management protocols for all trips
Manage and maintain outdoor gear
Plan allergy appropriate menus and purchasing food for all trips
Faculty Mentorship & Training
Work alongside Waldorf faculty to prepare them to chaperone trips
Hire and train additional Outdoor Education Trip Assistants (1 per trip)
Work with class teachers to develop curriculum for class trips, demonstrating willingness to work with Waldorf pedagogy
On Campus Responsibilities
Lead two blocks of OE activities as part of the PE program; for example: Backpacking 101, Habitat Restoration
Join a faculty leadership committee of your choice (Example: Community Engagement, Safety, Guidance, Assembly, etc.)
Attend weekly faculty meetings
Serve as academic student advisor for 6-8 students, meeting quarterly and as needed
Serve as a class sponsor
Participate in all-school service days
Qualifications:
Preferred Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree or higher
Mental health first aid training, Professional risk management certifications
Waldorf Teacher Training/Knowledge of or interest in Waldorf Education
Significant experience working with teens
Required Skills:
Requirements Overview
The candidate will have highly developed and specific skills in outdoor trip leadership that include:
At least 2 years combined experience teaching, and leading teenagers in front-country and backcountry camping, hiking, backpacking, and navigation
Strong risk management skills & tolerance for adversity
Experience driving a 9-passenger van
Valid Wilderness First Responder certification (or willingness to obtain)
Leave No Trace practitioner, champion of environmental ethics education
About San Francisco Waldorf School
About SFWHS:
At the heart of the school is an innovative education, a constantly renewing, 100-year-old, humanistic approach to learning that is taught at more than 1,100 schools worldwide. Waldorf Education prepares students to enter into adulthood with the gifts of independence, self-knowledge, a mastery of analytical and critical faculties, and a reverence for the world's beauty and wonder. Our faculty and staff share the vision that education is transformative, and full of love, curiosity, and kindness. Through our highly-intentional, well-rounded curriculum and meaningful relationships, we strive to imbue students with confidence, perseverance, resiliency, and self-knowledge with which to lead lives of purpose and direction.
