Change the world
Become an Apprentice Guide at Vail Valley Unbound.
Apprentice Guides are our most important hires because we only accept those who believe they are on a Hero’s journey and who we believe have the DRIVE, PERSEVERANCE and TALENT to someday run their own Acton Academy. Vail Valley Unbound is currently interviewing for one apprentice guide for the 2025-26 school year.
VVU is Hiring!
Do you want to change the world? Do you crave working hard with a small, mission-driven, world-class team of entrepreneurs changing the vision of school?
Position: Spark/Lower Elementary Apprentice Guide
Start Date: August 2025
If your passion is to fuel the love of learning in others while advancing your own personal and professional growth, this is your chance to get in on the ground floor of one of the world’s most innovative schools.
Vail Valley Unbound, founded in 2023, is a private non-profit micro-school and learner-driven community with the mission that each person who enters its doors will find a calling and change the world. We combine elements of the Montessori method with Socratic guiding, hands-on experiential quests and interactive technology. Underlying our method is an application of the Hero’s Journey creating a lively learning environment that feels more like an adventure than school.
At VVU, we have mixed-aged classrooms called studios with a self-paced learning design as opposed to grade-levels. Our real world-oriented quests culminate in a public exhibition of learning as opposed to test scores and report cards. In all areas of VVU-life, our students are empowered to be in the driver’s seat of their learning.
We are seeking a full time Spark/Lower Elementary Apprentice Guide to work with our youngest learners. Our Apprentice Guide has the opportunity to grow quickly and steadily into a Lead Guide the upcoming school year.
We are looking for a smart, entrepreneurial individual who is passionate about guiding children on their independent journey of lifelong learning, and who possesses an understanding of the Hero’s Journey and the Socratic Method.
Our Apprentice Guide will learn to lead Socratic discussions and how to work with the VVU learning design, processes and systems.
Our Apprentice Guide will equip our learners to explore and take ownership of their learning, monitor progress on curriculum, and create life-oriented projects that nurture curiosity.
If interested, as your first step in this process, please read deeply through our website, read the book Courage to Grow, then apply.
Job Type: Full-time
Preferred experience and skills: Experience managing mixed aged groups of children; experience planning and implementing games or projects; coaching or mentoring experience a plus; a passion for disruptive education opportunities; deeply curious and ready to learn and work hard; agile with online learning; excellent writing and interpersonal communication skills; entrepreneurial thinker; reader; deep heart for children and a trust and respect for their ability to learn and grow without heavy adult intervention; kind-hearted and tough-minded; independent worker; calm demeanor and secure in being on a Hero’s Journey.
Salary: Our Apprentice Guides receive competitive pay, commensurate with experience.
Start your journey to equip and inspire young heroes
01
Apprentice Guide
Work hard on basic skills and your own hero’s journey.
02
Guide
Demonstrate mastery of the basic Acton Academy process and show a deep respect for the genius within Eagles, parents and other guides.
03
Lead Guide
Have the confidence to lead a studio and design powerful curriculum
04
Acton Academy Owner
You’re fully prepared to launch your own Acton Academy
Your promises to us
- I will encourage every child, parent and Guide to discover a “calling” that will change the world.
- I will show up prepared, on time, every time during our eleven month calendar.
- Stress “learning to do” and “learning to be” over “learning to know”.
- Never answer a question in the studio.
- Plan to be at Acton Academy for a minimum of two years and provide twelve months of notice so I can help find and train my replacement.
Our promises to you
- We will support your personal Hero’s Journey.
- We will offer pre-start challenges to prepare you for your first day in the studio.
- We will provide you weekly feedback from children and parents plus a full review every three months.
- We will offer a path for advancing to become a Lead Guide and Acton Academy Owner.