Vita High School | South Phoenix, Arizona
In-Person | Tuesday–Friday | 8:00 AM–4:00 PM | 32 Hours/Week
Compensation: $22–$30/hour, based on experience and qualifications
Strong Educator. Exceptional Mentor. Different Kind of School.
Are you an experienced educator who knows students deserve something better than a one-size-fits-all education?
Do you have strong high school mathematics skills, but believe education should develop far more than a student's ability to pass a test?
Are you coachable, growth-oriented, professional, and excited by the opportunity to help build a different model of education?
Vita High School may be the place for you.
We are seeking an experienced High School Math Educator & Student Success Guide who can confidently support students in mathematics while also mentoring a small group of young people toward academic, personal, and professional success.
This is not an easier alternative to traditional teaching.
It is an opportunity for exceptional educators to practice education differently.
We expect high standards, personal accountability, professionalism, collaboration, continuous learning, and a genuine commitment to every student.
In exchange, you will have the opportunity to build meaningful relationships with a small group of students and help redefine what high school can accomplish.
About Vita High School
Vita High School is a small, independent nonprofit high school in South Phoenix built around a simple belief:
Education should prepare students for life—not just for tests.
Our students complete rigorous academic work while developing the skills they will need to succeed as adults.
Our educational model incorporates:
- Personalized academic learning
- Mathematics and core academic competency
- AI-supported learning
- Entrepreneurship
- Financial literacy
- Career exploration
- Leadership development
- Goal setting
- Personal responsibility
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking
- Real-world problem solving
Every student develops a long-term vision for their future and works toward meaningful academic, career, financial, and personal goals.
Technology helps us personalize learning.
Exceptional educators make the learning meaningful.
We believe AI and technology should enhance great educators—not replace them.
The Role
As a Vita Guide, you are not simply supervising students while they complete coursework.
You are an educator, coach, mentor, academic resource, role model, and professional representative of Vita High School.
You will work closely with approximately 12–16 students while collaborating with other Guides and school leadership.
Your responsibility is to know your students.
Know their names.
Know their goals.
Know where they are struggling.
Know where they are succeeding.
And help them continually move forward.
Academic Instruction & Mathematics
A major responsibility of this position is providing strong academic support, particularly in high school mathematics.
Candidates must be comfortable independently working through and explaining concepts commonly found in:
- Pre-Algebra
- Algebra I
- Algebra II
- Geometry
- Functions and equations
- Ratios, percentages, and proportional reasoning
- Applied mathematics
- Financial mathematics
- Data interpretation
- Mathematical problem solving
You should be able to look at a student's work, identify where understanding broke down, and explain the concept in another way until the student understands it.
You do not need to know every answer immediately.
You do need the academic foundation, critical-thinking ability, resourcefulness, and humility necessary to find the answer and teach it effectively.
Candidates should expect mathematics competency to be evaluated during the interview process.
Student Coaching & Mentorship
Academics are only part of the job.
Our Guides help students become increasingly capable of directing their own lives.
You will help students:
- Establish academic and personal goals
- Develop accountability
- Strengthen executive-functioning skills
- Build confidence
- Learn from mistakes
- Improve communication
- Explore careers
- Develop professional habits
- Navigate challenges appropriately
- Follow through on commitments
- Develop independence without removing accountability
We aren't here to solve every problem for students.
We teach students how to become better problem solvers.
Professionalism Matters
Vita is a small school.
That means every adult has an outsized impact on our culture.
Students watch how adults communicate, handle stress, solve disagreements, receive feedback, and treat other people.
Our staff must model the behavior we want our students to develop.
We expect Guides to:
- Arrive on time and prepared
- Know and build relationships with their students
- Communicate professionally with parents
- Maintain appropriate student and family boundaries
- Protect student confidentiality
- Address concerns through the appropriate internal channels
- Support school leadership and fellow staff in front of students and families
- Handle disagreements privately and professionally
- Avoid gossip and divisive conversations
- Keep personal conflicts from becoming student or workplace conflicts
- Seek solutions instead of repeatedly focusing on problems
- Take ownership rather than automatically passing problems to someone else
- Maintain emotional composure in challenging situations
- Represent Vita professionally in language, appearance, communication, and behavior
Disagreement is allowed.
Questions are encouraged.
Constructive feedback is welcomed.
Undermining colleagues, leadership, students, families, or the organization is not.
Coachability Is Non-Negotiable
Vita itself is a learning organization.
Our educational model continues to evolve, which means our staff must be willing to evolve with it.
Training does not end after onboarding.
Our team regularly meets, reviews systems, discusses students, evaluates results, reinforces training, and improves how we operate.
The right candidate approaches feedback with:
“How can I get better?”
not
“I already know how to do this.”
You should be comfortable receiving feedback from leadership, participating in training, revisiting processes you've already learned, and changing your approach when a better method is identified.
Being experienced and being coachable are not opposites.
The strongest professionals are both.
Our Culture
We are intentionally building a culture centered around:
Student First
Decisions should ultimately support the growth, safety, development, and long-term success of our students.
Ownership
When you encounter a problem, take responsibility for helping solve it.
Growth
Students are expected to grow.
Adults are too.
Professionalism
Parents trust us with their children. Our communication and conduct must reflect that responsibility.
Collaboration
We operate as one school—not independent classrooms competing with one another.
Emotional Intelligence
We expect adults to recognize their emotions, regulate them appropriately, and model healthy conflict resolution.
Curiosity
Ask questions. Explore solutions. Continue learning.
Innovation
We are willing to challenge traditional assumptions about education when a better approach can serve students.
Integrity
What we say privately should align with what we represent publicly.
Who Thrives at Vita
You may be a great fit if you are an:
- Experienced high school teacher
- Mathematics teacher
- STEM educator
- Special education teacher with strong academic competency
- Former teacher seeking a more innovative educational environment
- College instructor
- Academic interventionist
- Experienced tutor
- Educator transitioning away from traditional school systems
Professionals from other backgrounds may also be considered when they can demonstrate exceptional academic competency and significant experience working with young people.
We are especially interested in educators who have thought:
“I still love educating students. I just believe there has to be a better way to do it.”
You May NOT Enjoy This Position If...
We believe candidates deserve transparency before applying.
This role may not be a good fit if you:
- Want to work independently without collaboration or oversight
- Dislike receiving frequent feedback
- Believe experience means you no longer need coaching
- Are uncomfortable with accountability
- Prefer to hand off problems rather than help solve them
- Struggle to maintain professionalism when stressed
- Frequently engage in workplace gossip or negative conversations
- Have difficulty separating personal stress from professional responsibilities
- Are uncomfortable learning new technology
- Believe AI has no appropriate role in modern education
- Prefer traditional lecture-based teaching as your primary instructional method
- Are uncomfortable communicating professionally with parents
- Have difficulty supporting organizational decisions after a team decision has been made
We don't expect perfection.
We expect maturity, accountability, self-awareness, and a willingness to grow.
Required Qualifications
Candidates must demonstrate:
- Strong competency in high school mathematics
- Experience teaching, tutoring, mentoring, coaching, or educating young people
- Excellent verbal and written communication
- Professional parent communication
- Strong relationship-building ability
- Emotional maturity and sound judgment
- Ability to accept and implement feedback
- Ability to work collaboratively with other educators
- Comfort learning technology and AI-supported educational tools
- Strong problem-solving ability
- Reliability and punctuality
Candidates must also have or be willing to obtain:
- Arizona IVP Fingerprint Clearance Card
- CPR/First Aid Certification within 60 days of employment
Preferred Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree
- Mathematics, STEM, education, or related academic background
- Arizona teaching certification
- Previous high school teaching experience
- Master's degree
- Experience with project-based or personalized learning
- Experience working with neurodivergent learners
- Spanish-speaking ability
Teaching certification is preferred but is not required for an exceptional candidate who can demonstrate the academic competency, professional experience, and cultural alignment required for the position.
Pay: $22.00 - $30.00 per hour
Benefits:
Work Location: In person
