Founding Guide
We’re hiring a Founding Guide to work with children in Trellis’s Vancouver studio. Someone who takes children seriously, holds clear boundaries and knows that helping can sometimes mean waiting.
Trellis is an Acton Academy learning community for homeschooling families with children aged five to eight. We want children to make choices, do work they can be proud of and learn to keep going when something is difficult. Your work is to help them take on that responsibility.
Full-time · In person in Vancouver · $30/hour · Seven-hour days
Our first-year contract runs through July 31, 2027, with the intent to continue beyond it. October 5, 2026 is our strongly preferred start date. If you could start later, tell us.
The daily work
You will help establish the routines, expectations and relationships that shape the studio. The work calls for preparation, close observation and steady follow-through. It also asks you to notice when your own help is getting in the way.
When a child asks for an answer, you need to judge what would help: information, a useful question or time to keep trying. When children disagree, you help them learn to work through it. When a boundary needs holding, you hold it.
In Acton language, that adult is a Guide: not a conventional teacher, not a classroom manager, and not the adult at the centre of the room. You remain responsible for safety, boundaries and the care with which children are treated.
Learning the Acton approach
You don’t need to arrive knowing the Acton way. You do need to be willing to study it, try it and reflect honestly on your own practice. Experience matters. So does the ability to reconsider a familiar approach when it isn’t helping a child.
Saba, one of Trellis’s founders, will support you as you put the approach into practice. She will be as involved as you and the studio need, for as long as needed.
What we’ll look for
Warmth and sound judgment need to show up together. You can set a firm limit without turning it into a contest. You can stay calm through frustration, follow through on a commitment and take feedback seriously.
We want to understand how you have worked with children, what you have learned and what you are still working on. Montessori training or experience is a strong plus, as is experience with forest-school or Reggio approaches.
If you want to give children more ownership of their work and are willing to change your own practice to make that possible, this role may fit. If you prefer to direct each activity and supply the answers, the daily work here is likely to frustrate you.
Take the first step
The first application asks about your availability, experience and how you think about working with children. A résumé is optional. You must be eligible to work in Canada and able to work full-time in person in Vancouver.
We read applications as they arrive. If we’d like to continue, we’ll contact you promptly with the next step and what it involves.
Questions about the role? Write to hello@trellised.ca.