After School Play Teacher

After School Play Teacher (~.25 FTE)

KapKa Cooperative School is seeking a creative, responsive, and collaborative After School Play Teacher to join our team. The approximate start date is late August/September 2026.

At KapKa, we believe children learn best through curiosity, creativity, connection, and play. We are looking for educators who delight in childhood and believe that relationships are at the heart of learning. Our teachers are more than instructors - they are collaborators, guides, and the heart of our school community.

The Position

This position is ideal for someone seeking meaningful part-time work with consistent afternoon hours and the opportunity to be part of a warm, creative school community.

The After School Play Teacher creates a warm, joyful, and engaging environment where children can unwind, explore, and simply enjoy being kids at the end of the school day. This part-time position is scheduled Mondays through Thursdays from 3:15–5:45 PM during the school year and serves kindergarten through 5th grade students. Daily group sizes vary, with a typical range of 8–14 children.

Our after-school program is intentionally unhurried and play-based. Rather than following a rigid schedule of activities, we cultivate an environment where children's curiosity and imagination lead the way. One afternoon might find children gathered around a table stringing colorful beads or creating art with open-ended materials. Another day may unfold with an impromptu theater performance, elaborate imaginative games, or children constructing obstacle courses from planks, stumps, and loose parts in the play yard. Some children may be chatting together while perched on tree stumps, swinging, climbing, or keeping watch from the lookout at the top of the play structure. Others might be harvesting rosemary from the garden to make "potions," building tiny worlds, reading quietly, or simply enjoying time with friends. Our care takes place in a welcoming kindergarten classroom that opens directly onto our outdoor play yard, allowing children to move freely between indoor and outdoor experiences throughout the afternoon.

The After School Play Teacher's role is to create the conditions for this kind of meaningful play to thrive. Responsibilities include providing attentive supervision, ensuring children's safety and well-being, fostering positive relationships, supporting children in navigating social interactions and conflict with empathy and respect, maintaining an organized and inviting environment, communicating with families at pickup, and helping children end their school day feeling connected, capable, and cared for.

The ideal candidate genuinely enjoys spending time with elementary-aged children, values the importance of unstructured play, and brings warmth, patience, flexibility, and a playful spirit to each afternoon. We are looking for someone who delights in childhood, can balance attentive supervision with allowing children the freedom to explore, and appreciates that some of the most meaningful moments happen when children are given the time and space to create their own adventures.

Position Details

• Supervisor: Head of School
• Classification: Hourly
• Schedule/Hours: Mondays - Thursdays 3:15-5:45 PM
• Work Calendar: Approximately September 7, 2026 - June 11, 2027, following the school calendar for holidays and breaks

Responsibilities

• Facilitate play-based, child-centered after-school learning experiences for children aged 5 - 10.
• Prepare materials for developmentally appropriate activities and explorations.
• Supervise children in your care, supporting engagement, appropriate choices, social support, and conflict resolution/restorative practices as needed.
• Follow all health and safety protocols to ensure a clean and safe environment.
• Ensure all children are signed in and out each day.
• Administer basic first aid when necessary.
• Create an environment that fosters a sense of belonging and significance, creates a safe space for feelings, appropriate risk-taking, and views mistakes as learning opportunities.
• See and celebrate the unique gifts and perspectives of every learner.
• Support children to participate in the care of the classroom and play yard environments, including putting materials away when they have finished using them.
• Reset the classroom and play yard spaces at the end of each day, including light cleaning (wiping down table surfaces, sweeping, etc.).

Qualifications & Skills

• Associates Degree in Child Development or a related field, preferred
• 2+ years of experience working with elementary-aged children
• CPR/1st Aid Certification (or willingness to complete at the school’s cost)
• Appreciation for nature and being outdoors with children
• Familiarity with Responsive Classroom and/or Positive Discipline approaches to classroom management

Physical Requirements

• Able to lift up to 50 pounds on an occasional basis
• Able to stand and sit for long periods of time
• Able to climb stairs, walk on uneven surfaces, and escort groups of students to and from classes both inside and outside of school buildings
• Able to communicate clearly with colleagues, students, and parents

Compensation and Benefits

• Hourly rate of $25 - $32, commensurate with qualifications and experience
• Paid time off for personal and sick leave
• Professional development funding
• Creative freedom in curriculum development and adaptation
• Small class sizes
• Participation in an inclusive, caring, and justice-oriented learning community

Who We Are

Our Mission Statement

Together we empower passionate learners and creative problem solvers, rooted in community, to build a more just and sustainable world.

Founded in 1989, KapKa Cooperative School is a small, cooperative elementary school in Seattle. We are an independent, non-profit, state-approved school and candidate member of the Northwest Association of Independent Schools. Located on the border of the Fremont and Phinney neighborhoods just one block from Woodland Park, we spend a good part of each day engaging with the natural world.

We believe children are curious and capable learners. At KapKa, teachers nurture a child’s abilities and passions using experiential, democratic, and anti-racist learning approaches. We believe education happens best in relationship with self and others. We aspire for children to become integral members of the school community, as well as the larger community beyond.

Our program balances intellectual, social, and emotional learning using a progressive and emergent curriculum. We foster creativity, compassion, collaboration, and curiosity, as well as an understanding of, and dedication to, social and ecological justice.

Parents are active participants at KapKa. They support learning inside and outside the classroom. Under the guidance of teachers and staff, they help create space for young learners to take compassionate, self-actualizing and courageous actions that grow the individual and the community.

For more information, visit our website at www.kapkaschool.org.

Please see our Mission and Values Statements to read about how we support children in their learning at KapKa.

To Apply

Please email your cover letter and resume to resumes@kapkaschool.org with “After School Play Teacher” in the subject line

• A cover letter, outlining interest in and qualifications for this position
• A current resume
• At least 2 professional references (we will inform candidates before contacting references)

KapKa Cooperative School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, disability, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation. We value diversity and are actively seeking candidates who bring underrepresented identities and perspectives and who wish to find a community in which they will be welcomed and valued as their whole selves.

• Paid time off for personal and sick leave
• Professional development funding