Elementary Reading Specialist $100,000 USD/year Pay is set based on global value, not the local market.
Most roles = hourly rate x 40 hrs x 50 weeks
Description
Required: Master's in reading instruction OR structured literacy certification (Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, IMSE, CERI, LETRS, Neuhaus, UFLI, or equivalent)
- In-person at Waypoint Academy, Dripping Springs (Austin area), TX. Relocation support available.
- $100,000 salary, paid weekly. Day-one health, dental, and vision benefits.
- Nature-based school combining structured academics with outdoor adventure
Most reading specialists work only with children who have already fallen behind. You've spent your career believing this approach is backward — that evidence-based reading instruction should reach every child from the start, not just those flagged for intervention. If this conviction shapes your teaching practice, continue reading.
Waypoint Academy is a nature-based school where mornings focus on rigorous academics and afternoons involve archery, survival skills, and exploring the Texas Hill Country. Your responsibility centers on the morning segment: delivering small-group structured literacy instruction that advances every K-2 student in phonics, decoding, fluency, and writing. You design the lessons. You analyze the data. You adjust groupings and methods on the fly. The remainder of your day involves coaching students through adaptive learning applications, fostering relationships that ensure every student reaches 100% of their app-based targets. No prescribed curriculum. No pull-out intervention model. You hold accountability for literacy outcomes across the entire cohort.
You're entering a small, developing school. This means you'll construct the literacy program rather than inherit an established one. As the school grows, you'll determine how structured literacy expands across additional cohorts and grade levels. If you prefer a stable position with fixed routines, this role isn't suitable. If you want to demonstrate that every child can learn to read more effectively when instruction is designed specifically for them, this is your opportunity.
What you will be doing
- Delivering small-group structured literacy workshops: systematic phonics, decoding, fluency, and early writing for all K-2 students, not exclusively those identified for intervention
- Evaluating student performance data from adaptive applications and running records to adjust groupings and modify instruction between sessions
- Guiding students individually and in small groups through adaptive learning platforms, cultivating relationships that ensure goal completion
- Creating your own lesson plans grounded in structured literacy principles, customized to each group's present level and learning pace
- Integrating occasional outdoor or hands-on activities to strengthen literacy concepts when they authentically improve learning outcomes
What you will NOT be doing
- Drafting IEPs or managing pull-out schedules with classroom teachers. All students are your direct responsibility.
- Passively monitoring students on learning applications. You actively guide them toward goal completion, not merely observe them navigating screens.
- Spending the entire day in a conventional classroom. Students participate in outdoor activities during afternoons, so your literacy instruction is concentrated and high-intensity.
- Grading large volumes of worksheets — adaptive platforms manage practice repetition and progress monitoring, allowing you to concentrate on direct teaching.
Key responsibilities
Drive accelerated reading and writing development across all K-2 students through structured literacy instruction and adaptive learning platforms.
Candidate requirements
- Bachelor's degree in any subject
- Master's degree in reading instruction OR structured literacy certification such as Orton-Gillingham, Wilson Reading System, IMSE, CERI, LETRS, Neuhaus, or UFLI. One of these credentials is required, not optional.
- 2+ years of full-time K-2 structured reading instruction using systematic phonics in a school or clinical setting, within the last 5 years
- Experience creating your own reading lessons, and you can articulate what you teach and how without citing a published program
- Willing to work in-person at Waypoint Academy, Dripping Springs (Austin area), TX
- Willing to work with all K-2 students (not only struggling readers) and use AI-powered adaptive learning tools daily
- Legally authorized to work in the U.S. without visa sponsorship
Nice to have
- Experience with multiple structured literacy frameworks (e.g., Orton-Gillingham and UFLI) with a clear rationale for when each approach is appropriate
- Documented reading gains across a complete cohort, not solely intervention groups. You can specify the metrics and the results.
- Familiarity with adaptive reading platforms (Lexia, Amira, Reading Eggs, or similar) and leveraging their data to inform instructional planning
- Experience in non-traditional educational settings: micro-schools, outdoor education programs, Montessori, or comparable environments
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