Wildflower Charter School Founding Administrative Partner Opportunity

About the opportunity

Launch a public Montessori school from the ground up. As an Administrative Partner, you will participate in the Wildflower Charter Incubator, a structured program combining coaching, practical work, and individualized support as founders prepare for charter application, authorization, and school launch.

Founding Administrative Partner

Serves as the Charter Leader for the emerging organization. Builds and coordinates the charter-wide systems that allow the school to operate as a compliant, financially sustainable, equitable public institution. Includes governance, authorizer relations, finance, human resources, compliance, data systems, student services, enrollment systems, communications, technology, and other shared operational infrastructure.

What we're looking for

• Experience in school leadership, charter schools, nonprofit management, business operations, finance, project management, public administration, or community organizing.
• Belief in the teacher-leader school model and community-rooted leadership.
• Entrepreneurial characteristics: highly organized, comfortable with ambiguity, and energized by creating something that doesn't yet exist.
• Relationship-centered leadership, curiosity, collaboration, resilience, and motivation by long-term impact.

Compensation

Participation in the Wildflower Charter Incubator is unpaid. Founding teams typically spend 6 to 12 months developing a charter application and securing authorization, then another 6 to 12 months preparing for launch. Once a school is authorized and moves into implementation, founders transition into paid leadership positions within the school they have created. Post-launch Teacher Leader and Administrative Partner salaries typically range from $70,000 to $100,000, depending on the school's location and state funding levels.

Commitment

Launching a Wildflower charter school is comparable to starting a mission-driven social enterprise. It calls for persistence, collaboration, and sustained effort over several years. You won't do it alone: throughout the process, you'll have coaching, practical tools, and the experience of the broader Wildflower network behind you, while retaining full ownership of building a school that reflects your community and vision.

Geographic Consideration

States with strong conditions for a new Wildflower charter include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, and parts of Upstate New York. New Wildflower charter schools are not currently viable in California, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, or Washington state.

About Wildflower Schools

Wildflower is a national network of more than 80 small, teacher-led, community-embedded Montessori schools across 22 states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico. Each school is founded and led by its educators and is deeply rooted in the neighborhood it serves. Wildflower believes that children are fundamentally peaceful, curious, and good, and that schools can only work for children and families if they also work for educators. That belief is why Wildflower schools are built and led by the people closest to the children. Wildflower's public charter schools are tuition-free and open to every family regardless of income. Founding teams are supported by The Wildflower Foundation, which provides access to startup capital, hands-on coaching and tools, and a national community of Teacher Leaders who have walked this path themselves.