Primary Guide

Overview

Hickory Hope Early Learning Center seeks an experienced Montessori Primary Guide who is committed to advancing equity and social justice through high‑fidelity Montessori practice. This role leads a primary classroom within a dual‑immersion (English/Spanish) Montessori program embedded in Southwood, a majority‑Hispanic, mixed‑income community in the Charlottesville area.

As Lead Primary Guide, you will design and sustain a developmentally responsive Montessori environment, partner closely with families, mentor classroom staff, and contribute to a school culture grounded in respect, cultural affirmation, and community accountability. You will play a key role in ensuring that children from diverse linguistic and economic backgrounds experience consistency, belonging, and academic rigor in their earliest learning years.

Hickory Hope is part of a broader, resident‑informed vision for Southwood’s redevelopment, led by Habitat for Humanity, in which access to high‑quality early learning was identified by families as a top priority. Our work is guided by a shared belief: that every child deserves excellent early education, every family deserves support, and community strengths are the foundation for lifelong success.

If you are a Montessori guide who wants your daily work to contribute to meaningful systems‑level change, we invite you to apply and help shape a model of early learning rooted in dignity, language justice, and community partnership.