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

Alpha has redesigned conventional instruction. Students progress through academic content independently using AI-adaptive applications. There are no lectures, textbooks, or pacing calendars. Your expertise fills the role where human skill is irreplaceable. You create 20-minute small-group sessions using real-time app analytics; sessions are intentionally brief because targeted instruction outperforms duration. You also lead motivation sessions that propel 100% of your students toward their weekly app targets through Alpha’s motivational framework (school currency, leaderboards, age-appropriate gamification). When you catch a student’s miscue during a session, you identify the phonemic deficit and redesign the next day’s workshop before the day ends. That’s the expectation.

Families at these campuses selected Alpha for results, not just enrollment. Parents receive weekly updates on their child’s reading development and they ask questions. You will field specific inquiries about individual student progress, and “they’re doing fine” won’t suffice. You’ll need to reference the running record, identify the phonemic gap, and describe your intervention. That accountability should energize you, not weigh you down.

Your initial months focus on earning credibility. Workshops must be engaging, appropriately leveled, and demonstrably effective; student satisfaction and “love your Guide” survey results (90%+ target) provide direct feedback. As you succeed, your influence grows beyond your own classroom: strategies that work for your students become templates for other Alpha campuses, and your diagnostic precision informs reading instruction as Alpha expands. Your contributions extend well past your classroom walls.

Before hiring, you’ll record a brief video sharing an engaging story for young children, and you’ll spend a full day on campus working directly with K-3 students. Low energy with kids will disqualify you, regardless of credentials. That’s intentional. Apply today.

What you will be doing

• Creating small-group K-3 reading workshops based on live adaptive-app data, rooted in structured-literacy approaches (Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, LETRS, IMSE, or equivalent)
• Conducting daily motivation sessions that drive 100% of your students to meet their weekly app targets using Alpha’s motivational model (school currency, leaderboards, age-appropriate gamification)
• Analyzing AI-generated performance metrics (fluency curves, decoding accuracy, comprehension indicators) to modify instruction during the day, not only during planning time
• Administering running records, fluency probes, and decoding assessments to generate gains reflected in the weekly campus data review
• Serving as the energetic, relatable adult your K-3 students are excited to see every day

What you will NOT be doing

• Implementing a published reading curriculum, scripted program, or district pacing guide; you create lessons from student data
• Delivering whole-class lectures; all instruction occurs in small, targeted groups and students complete academic subjects through adaptive apps
• Serving as a reading consultant, teacher coach, or district-level specialist; you work in the classroom with children every day
• Managing a traditional classroom schedule: subject-by-subject lectures, homework review, test prep. Your scheduled blocks consist of workshops, motivation sessions, and data-driven small groups
• Preparing IEPs, 504 plans, or formal diagnostic reports; student progress is tracked in app data and your running records, not in special-education documentation, Deliver measurable K-3 reading gains across phonics, fluency, and comprehension within a campus community where outcomes undergo weekly review.

• 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 field, plus 2+ years of full-time K-3 structured reading instruction in a school or clinical environment within the last 5 years, using systematic phonics or structured literacy
• Proven ability to design your own reading lessons and explain what you teach and how, without depending on a published program
• Willingness to work in person 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)
• Willingness to work with all K-3 students (not only struggling readers) and incorporate AI and adaptive-learning tools into daily instruction as those tools develop
• Legally authorized to work in the U.S. without visa sponsorship

Nice to have

• Practical experience with AI-powered or adaptive reading platforms (e.g., Amira, Lexia, i-Ready, Reading Plus) for planning or student data analysis
• Track record of measurable reading outcomes (fluency gains in WCPM, accuracy improvement, decoding level advancement) you can cite with numbers
• Experience with diagnostic reading assessments (DRA, DIBELS, AIMSweb) for creating differentiated groups
• Experience in high-accountability school settings (independent, elite charter, premium tutoring with families who closely track outcomes)
• Background in performing, coaching youth sports, or otherwise engaging a K-3 audience outside the reading classroom

Pulled from the full job description Vision insurance Dental insurance Relocation assistance Benefits from day one

Full job description

• $120,000 annual salary, paid weekly, including health, dental, and vision benefits from day one
• Based on-site 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)
• 40-hour work week, 100% classroom-based with K-3 students

Your structured-literacy certification - Orton-Gillingham, LETRS, Wilson, IMSE, or a Master’s in reading instruction - has opened the door to every K-3 reading position you’ve pursued. In most settings, though, it also marked the limit: you delivered someone else’s curriculum and tracked results. At Alpha, the credential is your entry point. If that difference resonates with you, read on.