About Primer

Primer is a growing network of K–8 schools restoring the timeless foundations of American education. Inspired by the original teaching primers that shaped a nation of readers, thinkers, and builders, our schools begin with what has always worked, and build for what lies ahead. Close-knit learning environments. Skilled educators. A culture that takes kids seriously as learners and leaders.

Primers shaped the first 200 years of American children. Primer will ready them for the next.

About the role

As Head of Education, you’ll be the executive owner of the learning experience at Primer. You’ll sit on the executive team and lead our central education org: academic program, campus coaching, learning technology and the academic bar across all campuses.

At Primer, we’re trying to do the simple things (math, reading, and writing) really well. Your job is to own the academic model end-to-end: what a school day looks like, how we measure student growth, how we leverage learning apps and making sure it actually shows up in classrooms consistently. We’re trying to deliver affordable, accessible, solid academic outcomes for every family in America — and we have a lot of hard problems to solve.

You’ll work closely with state GMs (who own P&L and enrollment) to reconcile academic quality with financial reality, and with Product and Ops to make our model software-forward and scalable instead of headcount-heavy.

Your job is to stabilize the core: clarify the program, structure, and culture; ensure implementation is on track; and align academic, campus, admissions, and GMs around a coherent, financially sustainable model.

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve Primer’s academic model (curriculum, assessment, daily/weekly schedules, behavior and discipline frameworks) so it can scale across multiple sites and states.
• Lead the central education org, managing:
  • Head of Campus Teams (coaching, training, development, culture of campus educators)
  • Heads of Curriculum for math, literacy, and pursuits
  • Building out the team over time.
• Define the academic scorecard for the network and run the cadence of reviews with GMs, campus leaders, and HQ.
• Ensure a consistent, observable program across campuses:
• Standardize the core daily/weekly schedule and non-negotiables.
• Make sure campuses are actually implementing the model and that deviations are intentional, documented, and data-informed.
• Design and run systems for professional learning:
  • Observation and feedback cycles for campus staff.
  • Training arcs and PD for campus leaders and educators.
  • Launch playbooks for new campuses.
• Handle complex family and campus situations as part of a small SWAT group (with GMs and campus leaders), and turn repeated issues into better playbooks, training, and product changes—not just one-off fixes.
• Partner with Product and Ops:
  • Co-design experiments (new schedules, interventions, tools).
  • Close the loop with data on what works and what doesn’t.
  • Collaborate with Head of Product on software development/usage
• Partner, don’t own, adjacent functions:
  • Collaborate closely with GMs, Admissions, Marketing, and Facilities/Compliance.
  • Influence but do not directly own enrollment, marketing, facilities, or regulatory compliance.

What we’re looking for

• Experience leading academics across multiple school sites or programs, with direct responsibility for student outcomes and school quality.
• Prior classroom teaching experience (non-negotiable), ideally in K–8 or elementary settings.
• Experience managing and developing other leaders (e.g., curriculum leads, instructional coaches, principals).
• A track record of improving student outcomes (e.g., MAP or equivalent), staff culture, and/or student/family retention in constrained environments.
• Strong operational instincts and comfort making trade-offs under constraints; you care about access and sustainability as much as academic purity.
• A software-forward mindset:
• Comfortable working in and through tools (LMS, collaboration platforms, basic data dashboards).
• Pragmatic about EdTech/AI—excited to use it where it helps, skeptical where it adds noise.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; you can explain school decisions clearly to teachers, families, non-education HQ teams, and investors.
• Calm, steady presence during complex family or campus situations; you take feedback seriously without being whiplashed by it.
• Willing to run toward the issues, make hard decisions and be present on campus with staff, parents and children.

Why this role may not be a fit

• You thrive most in large systems with stable models and layers of process; Primer is still evolving quickly.
• You’d rather stay focused on a single function than move fluidly across academics, operations, and product.
• Your instinct in tough situations is to raise more money or add staff, not redesign the system.
• You’re either deeply skeptical of software in schools or convinced “AI will replace teachers next year.”
• You have not led across multiple sites or have never had direct classroom experience.

Primer is a mission-first company. We believe our mission is the highest-leverage way we can create positive change. In service of that, we keep work centered on mission execution and avoid social or political activism at work that’s unrelated to the mission. If that energizes you, we’d love to see you apply.