Careers
Rainier Valley Leadership Academy opened its doors in the fall of 2017 and has since grown to serve 6 through 10th grades. We will be serving grades 6th-11th in 2020-21 and are looking for mission-driven teachers to join our team as we continue to expand our school next fall.
At RVLA, we are focused on graduating scholars fully prepared for the future of thier choice. Our scholars are prepared with the skills needed to be ready for college or competetive career paths. . We are dedicated to elevating our scholars' voices, our parents' involvement, and our community's agency.
We believe in supporting teachers both personally and professionally, so you can take the lead in shaping the future of public education.
View our Career Opportunities down below to learn more about available roles and apply to become a member of the Rainier Valley Leadership Academy team.

Living and working Seattle
The Rainier Valley is known as one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse communities in the nation. The famed Farmers Market runs from May-October and draws visitors from around the city. Explore the latest in arts and music through the monthly ArtWalk and BeatWalk events. Other popular spots include the Ark Lodge Cinemas, Columbia City Theater, Genesee Park and Rainier Playfield. The historic downtown district is also home to a growing number of specialty and coffee shops, a jazz club, and iconic diner Geraldine’s Counter.
Rainier Valley Leadership Academy is located in the Rainier Valley of southeast Seattle between Interstate 5 and Lake Washington.
Located in the Hillman City neighborhood located a half mile south of Columbia City, RVLA enjoys one of the highest Walk Scores of any neighborhood in South Seattle. The Sound Transit Link Light Rail Station is just blocks from Columbia City’s main core, getting you into downtown in 12 minutes and the SeaTac airport in 15 minutes.
Career Oportunities
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Effectively instruct scholars in their content area as prescribed by college-ready, state, and RVLA academic content standards
- Utilize direct instruction, demonstration, audio-visual aids and other materials to supplement presentations with the overall goal of engaging scholar learning
- Teach a mentor group focused on social/emotional skill-building, college and career
- Maintain effective supervision and discipline in the classroom
- Set clear short-term and long-term goals to drive instruction
- Develop and submit decolonized daily and weekly lesson plans, unit plans, and assessments containing standards, objectives, essential questions, and assessments;
- Assign, review, and provide feedback on scholar work
- Consistently administer assessments to evaluate scholar progress, record results, and issue meaningful reports to inform parents of progress
- Attend faculty and professional meetings, educational conferences, and teacher training workshops to maintain and improve professional competence
- Serve on school pillar committees to forward the organizational mission
- Work as part of interdisciplinary team and within content areas planning and aligning curricula to ensure that instruction follows curriculum guidelines or requirements of state and school
- Create and implement scholar intervention plans when necessary
- Maintain the school's scholar management policies and procedures (i.e., attendance records, dress code, etc.) and report to the school administrators when necessary
- Work with other teachers and administrators to address and resolve scholar issues
- Provide necessary accommodations and modifications for growth and success of all scholars
- Lead and participate in scholar activities such as: sponsoring scholar activities or organizations, coaching a team, working with parents and the community as part of a committee or group, provide morning or after school supervision, and chaperoning scholar events.
- Abide by all state and federal mandates in reporting sexual or physical abuse and neglect.
- Special projects and duties outside of primary teaching responsibility as assigned.
- Participate in other events aimed at promoting or developing Rainier Valley Leadership Academy (i.e., scholar recruitment)
QUALIFICATIONS:
Bachelor’s Degree (required)
- Valid Washington State Teaching Certificate with content-area endorsement
- Experience teaching their content at the middle or high school level
- Knowledge of and experience with Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
- Experience designing curricula and assessments (highly preferred)
- Can articulate a clear, compelling vision for strong content instruction
- Excellent collaborative and organizational skills
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Growth mindset and love of learning
- A strong ethical base and self-awareness
- Relentless commitment to high standards for high quality execution
- Passionate with a strong sense of personal responsibility towards achieving ambitious goals
- Strong sense of integrity, ethics, and drive to achieve and grow
- Humility, sense of humor, and rock-solid commitment to RVLA’s mission and the Southeast Seattle community
- Commitment to building programs from beginning to end
- Ability to multi-task and function in a high-energy environment
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Effectively instruct scholars in their content area as prescribed by college-ready, state, and RVLA academic content standards
- Utilize direct instruction, demonstration, audio-visual aids and other materials to supplement presentations with the overall goal of engaging scholar learning
- Teach a mentor group focused on social/emotional skill-building, college and career
- Maintain effective supervision and discipline in the classroom
- Set clear short-term and long-term goals to drive instruction
- Develop and submit decolonized daily and weekly lesson plans, unit plans, and assessments containing standards, objectives, essential questions, and assessments;
- Assign, review, and provide feedback on scholar work
- Consistently administer assessments to evaluate scholar progress, record results, and issue meaningful reports to inform parents of progress
- Attend faculty and professional meetings, educational conferences, and teacher training workshops to maintain and improve professional competence
- Serve on school pillar committees to forward the organizational mission
- Work as part of interdisciplinary team and within content areas planning and aligning curricula to ensure that instruction follows curriculum guidelines or requirements of state and school
- Create and implement scholar intervention plans when necessary
- Maintain the school's scholar management policies and procedures (i.e., attendance records, dress code, etc.) and report to the school administrators when necessary
- Work with other teachers and administrators to address and resolve scholar issues
- Provide necessary accommodations and modifications for growth and success of all scholars
- Lead and participate in scholar activities such as: sponsoring scholar activities or organizations, coaching a team, working with parents and the community as part of a committee or group, provide morning or after school supervision, and chaperoning scholar events.
- Abide by all state and federal mandates in reporting sexual or physical abuse and neglect.
- Special projects and duties outside of primary teaching responsibility as assigned.
- Participate in other events aimed at promoting or developing Rainier Valley Leadership Academy (i.e., scholar recruitment)
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor’s Degree (required)
- Valid Washington State Teaching Certificate with content-area endorsement
- Experience teaching their content at the middle or high school level
- Knowledge of and experience with Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
- Experience designing curricula and assessments (highly preferred)
- Can articulate a clear, compelling vision for strong content instruction
- Excellent collaborative and organizational skills
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Growth mindset and love of learning
- A strong ethical base and self-awareness
- Relentless commitment to high standards for high quality execution
- Passionate with a strong sense of personal responsibility towards achieving ambitious goals
- Strong sense of integrity, ethics, and drive to achieve and grow
- Humility, sense of humor, and rock-solid commitment to RVLA’s mission and the Southeast Seattle community
- Commitment to building programs from beginning to end
- Ability to multi-task and function in a high-energy environment
OPPORTUNITY:
We are seeking a talented, entrepreneurial educational leader to be the Principal of Rainier Valley Leadership Academy. The ideal candidate will lead with a desire to foster high levels of academic achievement, provide an anti-racist and collaborative community framework to ensure the wellbeing of middle and high school scholars as the principal of Rainier Valley Leadership Academy (RVLA) in Seattle, WA.
The Principal will serve as the school’s academic leader and work collaboratively with an executive leadership team to help build an ant-racist long term vision to achieve the schools mission, possessing a passion for excellence and growing a world class team of educators who deeply believe in their capacity to prepare scholars for the college or career of their choice.
Our ideal candidate is scholar focused and utilizes innovative, data driven, anti-racist instructional practices to engage, connect and build relationships with scholars and their families to foster educational success. We are looking for an individual who is passionate about having a long term commitment to joining the RVLA community and wants to lead a community-centered school driven to dismantle systemic oppression through the unit of the school.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
Educational Program Oversight and Vision
- Serve as administrator and instructional leader of the school, directing and supervising the curriculum and advisory program of the school
- Lead an instructional administrative team to provide world class professional development, coaching and learning opportunities for staff
- Engage in data-driven instructional strategies to close skill gaps and accelerate scholar learning
- Oversee school’s approach to curriculum, include rigorous, standards-aligned curriculum and differentiation to give access to all scholar learners as well as responsive elective offerings
- Plan the master schedule of classes for scholars and ensure college preparatory course sequences
- Oversee an inclusive special education and Multilingual Learner program and training for all staff
Performance Management
- Monitor scholar growth and absolute performance data and adjust academic strategies as needed
- Coach and evaluate the performance of teachers and other school employees, ensuring individual development and growth
Ensuring Strong School Culture
- Champion building an equitable, inclusive environment welcoming of all scholars, families, staff and community partners
- Ensure a scholar-centered socioemotional program and scholar discipline policies to meet unique scholar population needs
- Maintain professional standards and a school environment that is productive, safe and focused
- Manage attendance and truancy processes, tracking key metrics like ADA, chronic absenteeism, etc.
- Hire and develop school staff (certificated and classified)
Community-Centered Leadership
- Work closely with parents and our community, building relationships to support scholars’ academic growth and socioemotional wellbeing
- Initiate and implement parent and/or community support and advisory groups
- Available for contact with parents, scholars and staff to discuss scholar progress and problems after class, at night or on weekends (via cell phone or in person)
Organizational Leadership
- Engage in school budget planning process, ensuring alignment of resources to strategic priorities and monitor spending
- Maintain work hours extending beyond school hours for other professional duties or functions such as staff meetings, supervision of scholar events, etc.
- Support scholar recruitment efforts and strategy
- Co-lead annual strategic planning process to receive Board approval
- Manage relationships with Board to ensure effective governance of the school's academic program and outcomes, including presentations and participation in monthly Board meetings
- In partnership with executive leadership, maintain relationships with civic leaders
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Possessing a growth mindset and an anti-racist approach to learning
- Experience with leadership roles (mentor teacher, department chair, assistant principal, etc.)
- Demonstrated leadership capabilities
- Proven management and team building skills
- Experience creating and implementing policies and systems
- Excellent interpersonal communication and writing skills
- Experience working in an entrepreneurial environment
- A passion for improving middle and high schools and driving education reform
- Ability to establish/foster a positive and safe school culture
- Experience in coaching teachers
- Experience in planning and implementing quality professional development
- Experience in leading/managing a team
- Experience in strategically engaging stakeholders
- Experience in conflict resolution
- Experience in making data driven decisions
- Experience and demonstrated ability managing multiple teams and resources
- Experience in creating and monitoring strategic plans
Experience managing budgets - A valid Washington State Administrative Credential or comparable out of state credential which is transferable to WA
- A minimum of 3 years teaching experience, preferably at the middle or high school level, with a history of success improving scholar achievement
- Prior administrative experience as an Assistant Principal or Principal (Required)
- Knowledge of bilingual education (strongly preferred)
OPPORTUNITY:
We are seeking a mission aligned Operations Assistant to join the growing team at Rainier Valley Leadership Academy to serve scholars in grades 6-12. This role will serve as a key member of the RVLA school operations team. The OA has an important role in several key areas including School Nutrition meal preparation, meal service and special event planning. In addition, this person will serve as a support to the main office and work on special projects as assigned including assisting in building activities and all operations sponsored or related internal and external activities and events. This position is designed for someone who is outgoing and willing to find opportunities in anything.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Prepare, distribute and track school nutrition meal service
- Maintain ongoing school nutrition educational requirements
- Support front office staff by assisting with answering phones, in person guest assistance, school nurse office support
- Assists with attendance calls and hallway support
- Attend weekly operations team meetings and professional development
- Support, identify and attend community events and or opportunities in Southeast Seattle, WA to meet families and scholars for the purpose of recruiting scholars to attend as needed
- Gather and organize scholar recruitment data including number of complete scholar enrollment packets, number of interested families and number of families needing an in-person follow up
- Support as needed in door-to-door scholar recruitment efforts in an identified location near the school for the purpose of recruiting scholars to attend
- Engage in scholar recruitment phone calls by calling families that have expressed interest in enrolling a scholar for the purpose of answering questions and giving information about how and when families can engage with the school and staff.
- Assist, plan and organize on campus events and activities
- Act as back up person for other operations team members
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Prior meal service experience
Demonstrate a positive attitude, good communication skills, and sensitivity to working in a diverse community - Ability to maintain strong relationships with community partners
- Team player and results-oriented
- Bilingual (Somali, Vietnamese, Spanish, Tagalog) strongly preferred, but not necessary
- Familiarity with the Washington state charter school movement and school choice is a PLUS
- Ability to work independently and without significant supervision
- Must pass a Washington State background check
OPPORTUNITY:
We are seeking a mission aligned Bus Aide to join the growing team at Rainier Valley Leadership Academy to serve scholars in grades 6-12. This role will serve as a member of the RVLA school operations team. The Bus Aide has an important role in supporting in ensuring that school transportation is safe to and from school. In addition, Bus Aides will serve as a support to the operations team and work on special projects as assigned. This position is designed for someone who flexible and enjoys supporting scholars from the time they get on the bus to the time they depart from the bus.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Board the bus prior to the start of school day at or near the Auburn dispatch site
- Maintain ongoing records on who rode the bus
- Report bus incidents in a timely manner
- Support front office staff by assisting with answering phones, in person guest assistance, school nurse office support
- Assists with attendance calls and hallway support
- Attend weekly operations team meetings and professional development
- Assist, plan and organize on campus events and activities
- Act as back up person for other operations team members
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Demonstrate a positive attitude, good communication skills, and sensitivity to working in a diverse community
- Ability to meet at Auburn dispatch and either stay on campus or return to campus for pick up in the afternoon
- Team player and results-oriented
- Bilingual (Somali, Vietnamese, Spanish, Tagalog) strongly preferred, but not necessary
- Ability to work independently and without significant supervision
- Must pass a Washington State background check
OPPORTUNITY:
We are seeking a mission aligned School Counselor to join the growing team at Rainier Valley Leadership Academy to serve scholars in grades 6-12. Our ideal candidate is scholar focused and utilizes innovative, data driven, anti-racist practices to engage, connect and build relationships with scholars and their families to foster educational success. The counselor is responsible for providing counseling and guidance services to all scholars, with a particular emphasis on preparing scholars for college and career oriented next steps. This includes ensuring that scholars have taken the necessary coursework to fulfill university requirements; taken the appropriate college entrance exams; as well as assisting scholars in completing their college applications. This position also requires conducting individual and small group counseling for scholars in need. Expertise with prevention, intervention, developmental and crisis counseling experience is highly desired.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Promote a college and career going culture through various activities on and off campus
- Serve in the capacity of school registrar to lead in creating schedules for scholars
- Develop a robust counseling program that can support scholars from 6-12
- Conduct conflict mediation program and promote safety for all scholars
- Coordinate and implement dissemination of information to scholars, parents, and community members pertaining to the college knowledge and high school readiness
- Implement the middle level or junior high school guidance curriculum through delivery of
classroom units - Guide individuals and groups of scholars through the development of educational and
career plans - Counsel individuals and small groups of scholars toward social and emotional and academic growth
- Provides direct support service to individual scholars, small groups, and classrooms.
- Provide counseling to scholars to promote ready to learn skills
- Completes assessments, referrals, and counseling with scholars and families.
- Develops and maintains family outreach programs and community partnerships
- Provide effective counseling strategies to scholars to replace negative behavior with app
- Maintain scholar records to ensure scholars are appropriately placed in academic classes
- Coordinate visits by college and career centered representatives during the school day
- Organize and implement field trips to promote college awareness
- Provide necessary information and materials for scholars regarding PSAT and or ACT Aspire and interpret results to scholars, parents, and staff
- Support the family advisory program as a level 1 intervention to address barriers to learning, cultivating a college going culture and promoting leadership and life skills
- Offer scholar and parent workshops to provide information and assistance in preparing for high school and beyond
- Participate in, coordinate and conduct activities that contribute to the effective operation
of the counseling program and school - Provide individual and small group counseling to scholars with IEP counseling needs
- Work collaboratively with School’s Student Support Sankofa Team, School Psychologist and other academic and mental health support personnel to ensure scholar success
Conduct parent conferences to discuss scholar academic progress - Maintain work hours extending beyond school hours for other professional duties or functions such as staff meetings, etc.
- Maintain professional standards and school environment that is productive, safe and focused
- Participate in RVLA and individual professional development
- Participate in other events aimed at promoting or developing RVLA and its schools (i.e., scholar recruitment)
QUALIFICATIONS:
- A valid Washington State Counseling credential is required
- MA/MS degree in School Counseling from an accredited college or university (highly desirable)
- Experience with individual and group counseling highly desired
- A passion for improving supporting global majority scholars and driving education reform
- Knowledge of bilingual education
- Experience working in an environment with diverse perspectives
- Prior counseling experience (mental health), including DIS Counseling (highly desirable)
- Demonstrated leadership capabilities
- Proven management and team building skills
- Excellent interpersonal, communication and writing skills
- Ability to work with parents, scholars, faculty, post-secondary educational representatives, as well as school community groups
- Ability to represent the school in a positive way
- Ability to understand scholar maturity levels and the process of goal selection
- Ability to help scholars gain an awareness of interests and abilities and to help them make course choices that will lead to appropriate careers commensurate with interests and abilities
- Ability to understand test construction and interpret educational test data
- Ability to understand school graduation requirements and parallel entrance requirements for post-secondary institutions
- Ability to motivate scholars and provide academic incentives for success
- Ability to understand the relationship between school curriculum and college programs
- Ability to understand the unique social-emotional needs of individual scholars
Opportunity:
This position supervises the day-to-day operations of RVLA’s after-school program, ensuring that scholars are in a safe, well-supervised environment that provides them with a well-designed academic and enrichment program. This position is also responsible for operational oversight of a 21st Century Community Learning Center After-School Program, managing relationships with external vendors and service providers, collecting participant data, and partnering with RVLA on grant compliance and reporting requirements.
RVLA is looking for a proven leader with the energy and skills to develop the operations infrastructure required to effectively implement and grow after-school programming at Rainier Valley Leadership Academy. The ideal candidate will have established after-school operations experience, as well as have a solid track record in managing flexible and reliable administrative systems.
The After-School Program Manager must be a consummate team player and creative problem solver, who will be able to work effectively with diverse audiences and restricted financial resources. A sincere commitment to serving low-income scholars is mandatory. This is a full-time position.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
- Oversee after-school program at Rainier Valley Leadership Academy;
- Ensure RVLA remains compliant with all 21st CCLC grant requirements;
- Recruit teachers to lead academic tutoring, enrichment, and/or physical activity courses;
- Develop partnerships and manage vendor relationships;
- Develop and implement program communications strategy;
- Develop, implement, and assess participant surveys;
- Track participation numbers in EZ Reports;
- Conduct monthly meetings with RVLA leadership to review student demographics, attendance, behavior, and academic progress;
- Lead quarterly School Advisory Committee meetings to review program performance and strategize necessary adjustments;
- Work with program evaluator to collect all necessary data and schedule interviews;
- In partnership with school, design and administer professional development for all after-school program employees, including Direct Service Providers; and
- Attend trainings across the State of Washington throughout the year, some of them running several days and requiring overnight stays.
This employer strives for a balanced, productive workforce, which is diverse in terms of age, gender, and cultural identity. We do not base hiring or promotional decisions on factors other than performance and professional growth potential.
Qualifications:
- Experience working with an after-school program preferred.
- Experience managing state or federal grants preferred.
- Experience working in South Seattle and familiarity with communities we serve preferred.
- Dependability, humility, sense of humor, and rock-solid commitment to RVLA’s anti-racist mission and the communities we serve.
Compensation:
$25.00 an hour (non-exempt)
Only applicants chosen for an interview will be contacted. We are looking to fill this position for a January 2021 start date.
Opportunity:
This position assists in the day-to-day operations of RVLA’s after-school program, ensuring that scholars are in a safe, well-supervised environment that provides them with a well-designed academic and enrichment program.
RVLA is looking for a high energy assistant with skills to help implement and sustain after-school programming at Rainier Valley Leadership Academy. The ideal candidate will have experience working with children, preferably in an after-school program setting, as well as having some experience entering reliable information for compliance tracking.
The After-School Program Assistant must be a consummate team player and creative problem solver, who will be able to work effectively with diverse audiences. A sincere commitment to serving low-income scholars is mandatory. This is a part time position.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
- Support after-school program at Rainier Valley Leadership Academy;
- Ensure RVLA remains compliant with all 21st CCLC grant requirements;
- Track participation numbers in EZ Reports;
- Support quarterly School Advisory Committee meetings to review program performance and strategize necessary adjustments;
- Support managing positive relationships with After School Providers and substitute when needed
- Attend trainings across the State of Washington throughout the year, some of them running several days and requiring overnight stays.
This employer strives for a balanced, productive workforce, which is diverse in terms of age, gender, and cultural identity. We do not base hiring or promotional decisions on factors other than performance and professional growth potential.
Qualifications:
- Experience working with an after-school program preferred.
- Experience working in South Seattle or familiarity with communities we serve preferred.
- Dependability, humility, sense of humor, and rock-solid commitment to RVLA’s anti-racist mission and the communities we serve.
Compensation:
$18.00 an hour (non-exempt)
Only applicants chosen for an interview will be contacted. We are looking to fill this position for a February 2021 start date pending grant funding.
RVLA Student Demographics
Low Income Students
Students of color
SPED
ELL