This is bigger than a job. We are opening a tuition-free public school in Columbia on one stubborn belief: a young person's zip code should never set the ceiling on their future. A place where every graduate walks out with a college acceptance in one hand and a job offer in the other. That is the mission. That is the cause. And the founding team gets to build it from the ground up. We cannot do it without you.
Plenty of people get to work at a school. Almost no one gets to build one from the ground up. That is what we are offering you.
A founding team member is not someone who shows up to a finished school. You are one of the hands that builds it. Here is what that actually means.
C.R. Neal Academy opens once, and only once. The people here at the start write the first chapter: the culture, the first traditions, the standard every class that follows will inherit. Years from now, students will move through a school you helped imagine into being.
This is bigger than a paycheck. We believe a young person's zip code should not decide the size of their future, and we are putting an entire school behind that belief. You would not just be taking a position. You would be joining a cause worth giving your work to.
No one founds a school alone. It rises only when teachers, families, operators, and partners pull in the same direction at the same time. You would be one essential part of a team accomplishing something no single person ever could on their own.
We mean that plainly. A founding team has no spare seats and no passengers. Every person carries real weight, and the school becomes whatever the people who show up make it. If you are reading this and feeling the pull, that is exactly the instinct we are looking for.
Founding teams are not assembled from a checklist. We are looking for people who see an unfinished school as an invitation, not a risk. If one of these sounds like you, we should talk.
You teach because you refuse to accept the outcomes our students are handed. You want a room you can design, a curriculum you can shape, and colleagues who push you. A blank slate excites you instead of scaring you.
Counselors, advisors, and support staff who know that academics only land when a young person feels seen, safe, and believed in. You build the relationships that make rigor possible.
Operations, finance, and logistics leaders who understand that a great school runs on a thousand invisible details done right. You make the machine work so teachers can teach.
Family liaisons and partnership leads who can knock on doors, sit at kitchen tables, and bring Columbia into the building. You know this school belongs to the community, not the other way around.
A school takes a whole community to open. There is a place here for your time, your expertise, or your network, whatever you have to give.
Offer internships, projects, site visits, or apprenticeships. Help us turn classroom learning into real career runways for students.
Share your craft. Coach a project, judge a showcase, or simply show a young person what a future in your field can look like.
Lend your leadership, finance, legal, or community expertise to the team stewarding this school's mission and accountability.
Spread the word, host a conversation, or help us reach the families this school is built for. The earliest believers shape everything.
Our volunteers carry a name, because they are part of the family. Neal Navigators give their time where it counts: at community events, in classrooms and student showcases, and out across Columbia helping families find their way to us. Some give an afternoon. Some give a season. Every one of them helps carry the mission forward.
We are hiring the founding team that opens C.R. Neal Academy. This is the first posted role. If it is not your fit, add your name below and you will hear from us first when the next one opens.
This is a builder's role. During the planning year you will stand up the school's core operating systems from scratch: facilities readiness, purchasing and vendor selection, budget and compliance support, and the logistics behind board meetings, staff onboarding, and community events. Every logistics problem you solve here is also a career-pathway problem. Operations are how our model actually reaches students.
Build the non-instructional systems the school will run on, and ready the campus for opening.
Support the budget and forecasts, manage purchasing and vendors, and keep records audit-ready.
Own facility readiness, vendor relationships, and the emergency preparedness plan.
Submit your application through our online application form. Upload your resume and cover letter and respond to the three questions below. Keep each response under 250 words. We read every one. Applications close October 15, 2026.
Plan for approximately 15–20 minutes. Brief, specific responses are welcome. For assistance or an accommodation, email info@rootedschoolcola.org.
Not the right role? Join the founding list and you will be the first we contact when the next one opens.
Add my name →Our first role is posted above. Because we open in Fall 2027, the rest of the founding team comes together over the months ahead. Add your name and you will be among the first we contact when each role opens.
Thank you for raising your hand. You will be among the first we reach out to as founding roles open. Building a school takes people who choose to show up early, and we are glad you did.