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The Primer Fellowship
A launchpad for future leaders.
At Primer, we believe schools rise or fall on the strength of their leaders. Curriculum matters. Technology helps. But what endures is the people at the center: the ones who hold the room, shape the culture, and steward the beginning of a child’s education.
That is why we invest in leaders with the same seriousness we invest in children. Because a leader who embodies courage, intention, and resilience will pass those same qualities on to generations of students.
Now accepting applications for Texas (San Antonio and Houston), Florida (Babcock Ranch), Alabama (Spanish Fort and Autaugaville). Apply by December 15th to join January’s Launch Track cohort.
Introducing the Primer Fellowship
The Primer Fellowship is where our leaders begin.
It’s a paid, part-time program that prepares educators to step into one of the most essential roles in our education movement: the Primer Leader.
This is a high-performance program: more like an executive MBA than a training course. We have high expectations and our Fellows are expected to meet a high standard at every stage. Each assignment, and every evaluation, is a measure of the readiness to truly lead.
Primer Fellows enter a season of formation: learning Primer’s academic model, engaging with our culture, assessing mutual fit with our philosophy and program, and practicing the habits of leadership that turn classrooms into communities. Along the way, they receive the training and support to carry something forward that will endure.
Two Tracks. One Mission.
Every Primer Leader shares the same mandate: to give children the strongest beginning possible. But the path to leadership in Primer Schools can take two different forms.
Help establish a new Primer campus in your community. Engage families, recruit students, and build relationships with the educators you’ll be working beside, all while preparing to open the doors to a school intended to last for generations.
Now accepting Launch Track applications for Texas (San Antonio and Houston), Florida (Babcock Ranch), Alabama (Spanish Fort and Autaugaville).
Step into an existing Primer campus.
Train deeply in our model and culture, ready to assume leadership where it is most needed. See our Primer campuses here.
Add your name to our talent pool to be notified when Join Track applications open in early 2026.
The Primer Fellowship is a season of hard work, evaluation, and formation that can happen alongside a full-time job.
Launch Track Fellows spend eight months preparing to open a new campus. Join Track Fellows complete a four-month program designed to immerse them in Primer’s model and prepare them to lead at an existing Primer campus.
Fellows dedicate 5–10 hours each week – split between live programming in the evenings, asynchronous online coursework, and fieldwork in their communities alongside campus teams. The expectations are high, and the work is serious. Fellows are measured against clear standards of readiness, because only those who demonstrate mastery move forward.
Every Fellow is paid a monthly stipend, supported by the Fellowship team, and shaped by hands-on experience. Those who make it through emerge not only trained, but proven: ready to take on one of the most important leadership roles in our communities full-time.
After you apply, our team will review your submission and notify you within seven days if you’re selected to move forward. Finalists are invited to complete a short video interview, a take-home exercise, and a live conversation with our team before final decisions are made. We’re accepting Launch Track applications through December 15, but because we review on a rolling basis, it’s best to apply as soon as you’re ready.
No problem! Our program is set up to work like an evening MBA, allowing you to balance a full-time job with the Fellowship. Once your school launches in Summer 2026, you’ll transition into a full-time role as a Primer Leader.
Your work in the Fellowship will be a blend of remote coursework and Zoom programming, as well as in-person fieldwork with your campus team.
As a part of the Fellowship, you’ll receive a monthly stipend of $500. After the Fellowship concludes and you transition into a Primer Leader, you’ll earn a competitive full-time salary with great benefits, equity, and optional additional earning opportunities like summer programming and campus leader roles.
You should have previous experience working with kids, but you do not need to be an active teacher.
At the conclusion of the program in Summer 2026, Fellows will transition into full-time Primer Leaders. The outcomes are clear. Not only do Fellows come away with a strong foundation in Primer’s model, culture, and operations, but also a full-time role with competitive salary, benefits, and equity and a place in a national network of leaders shaping the next 200 years of American education.
For Launch Track Fellows, this means opening the doors of a new campus in their community and stepping into the day-to-day role of a Primer Leader. For Join Track Fellows, it means stepping into leadership at an existing Primer.
Of course! We’ll be running ads on Facebook, Instagram, Google (and other online channels) and supplementing with marketing efforts like direct mail and radio ads, depending on your geography.
Yes. Your Primer will be co-located with at least one other educator leading a different grade band, making it easy for families to drop off multiple students in different grade levels at the same location.
Each Primer serves a maximum of three grades in a single classroom. Our typical campus is three Primer Leaders serving one grade-band each: one for K-2, one for 3-5 and one for 6-8. We’re strong believers in the large body of research suggesting that mixed-age classrooms are more supportive of student growth, so we’re intentional about creating these spaces at each Primer.
We take the trust that parents put in us to educate their children very seriously, and we focus on the basics: core academics and passion projects. We believe parents have the ultimate authority and responsibility for the ideological formation of their children — so we welcome families of all religions and political backgrounds, but set the expectation that it won’t be part of the classroom experience.
Apply for the Fellowship today
Now accepting applications for Texas (San Antonio and Houston), Florida (Babcock Ranch), and Alabama (Spanish Fort and Autaugaville)
