GOVERNESS & LEAD EDUCATOR

PRIVATE FAMILY | PALM BEACH & WORLDWIDE

Location: Palm Beach, Florida, with extensive domestic and international travel

Position: Full-Time

Focus: IB PYP | STEM | Inquiry-Based Learning | Character Development | Global Education

"Ask. Inquire. Question. Don't Accept."

The Opportunity

We are seeking an extraordinary Governess & Lead Educator to become a defining educational influence in the life of a bright, deeply curious six-year-old.

This is not simply a teaching position.

It is an invitation to help shape a young human being.

We are raising a responsible, independent, kind-hearted child who thinks for herself, challenges assumptions, asks meaningful questions, and has the confidence to explore the world with curiosity. Your role is to help architect that continued evolution through academic rigor, joyful discovery, strong character, and a deep belief that every good question deserves a serious answer.

We are looking for someone for whom education is a calling, not simply a career.

You have an internal standard of excellence that does not require supervision. You care deeply about doing things thoughtfully, correctly, and with integrity, not because someone is watching, but because that is simply how you move through the world.

At the same time, your standards are grounded in love and service rather than perfectionism. You understand that the goal is not to create a perfect child or a perfect classroom. It is to help a young person become more fully herself.

You find genuine fulfillment in helping another human being grow.

You believe excellence is an act of care.

We are looking for someone who can take an ordinary moment and turn it into an extraordinary lesson.

Someone who understands that mathematics can happen at a market in Marrakech, science can unfold beside the ocean, history can come alive while walking through Rome, and a child's question at breakfast can become the beginning of an entire week of inquiry.

You will design with intention, teach with joy, measure what matters, and continually ask:

How do we make her want to know more?

The family's life is highly dynamic and global. We travel extensively, and the curriculum travels with us.

The world is not an interruption to the classroom.

The world is the classroom.

The Role

Governess. Educator. Partner.

You are first and foremost an exceptional educator.

You bring deep subject mastery, strong pedagogical judgment, and demonstrated expertise in International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme methodology, STEM education, inquiry-based learning, and curriculum design.

But credentials alone will not make someone exceptional in this role.

This position exists inside a private family home.

That distinction matters.

You will become a trusted part of the rhythm of the household. You must be able to move fluidly between academic leadership, travel, family life, household partnership, and the unexpected realities of a dynamic private environment.

You know when to lead. You know when to listen. You know when to challenge. You know when to adapt.

And you understand that your influence on a child extends far beyond the hours formally designated as school.

Prior experience as a governess or private home educator is essential. The ability to operate comfortably and professionally inside a private household is not secondary to this position. It is foundational to it.

What You'll Own

Educational Vision & Curriculum

You will take meaningful ownership of the child's educational experience and outcomes.

• Designing and delivering a rigorous, joyful, world-class homeschool curriculum.
• Building a multi-year educational roadmap rooted in IB PYP methodology and strong STEM foundations.
• Creating transdisciplinary units of inquiry centered on big ideas, student agency, critical thinking, and intellectual rigor.
• Developing curriculum from the ground up rather than simply delivering prepackaged material.
• Establishing clear academic goals, benchmarks, and measures of progress.
• Assessing learning continuously and adapting based on the child's development, strengths, interests, and opportunities for growth.
• Maintaining thoughtful documentation of curriculum, progress, projects, achievements, and areas requiring additional attention.
• Ensuring each week builds meaningfully on the last.
• Collaborating with parents and other educational professionals when appropriate.
• Continually researching new ideas, resources, methodologies, technologies, experiences, and experts that can enrich the child's education.
• Looking critically at your own work and continually asking, "How could I make this better?"

You should be able to zoom out and see where we are going over several years, then zoom all the way in and know exactly why today's lesson matters.

Inquiry, Curiosity & Independent Thinking

We don't want to simply teach a child what to think.

We want to help her learn how to think.

You will create an environment where questioning is celebrated, intellectual independence is cultivated, and "why?" is rarely dismissed.

• Ask better questions.
• Challenge assumptions respectfully.
• Develop and defend her own ideas.
• Become comfortable saying, "I don't know yet."
• Seek evidence.
• Fail intelligently.
• Try again.
• Change her mind when new information warrants it.
• Develop the confidence to think independently rather than simply seeking approval.

The goal isn't a child who can recite the right answer.

It is a child who is genuinely hungry to understand.

STEM Foundations

STEM should not feel like a collection of isolated subjects.

It should become a way of seeing the world.

• Mathematical reasoning and numeracy.
• Scientific thinking.
• Problem-solving.
• Engineering and design thinking.
• Observation and hypothesis.
• Hands-on exploration.
• Age-appropriate technology and computational thinking.

We want someone capable of making mathematics and science feel alive, relevant, challenging, and genuinely exciting.

Literacy, Communication & Expression

You will cultivate a child who not only reads and writes exceptionally well, but can think clearly and communicate what she thinks.

This includes deep reading comprehension, a genuine love of literature, strong written expression, vocabulary development, storytelling, public speaking, thoughtful discussion and debate, and the ability to explain increasingly sophisticated ideas in her own words.

We care about voice, not simply correctness.

Music, Creativity & the Arts

Music and creative expression are not enrichment activities added after the real learning is finished.

They are part of the education itself.

We are particularly interested in an educator with genuine musical ability or deep musical literacy who can naturally weave music into the learning environment.

Whether through instrument, voice, rhythm, composition, movement, visual art, storytelling, or creative projects, you understand that creativity develops a different and equally important dimension of intelligence.

Global & Experiential Learning

The family travels extensively.

Your classroom needs to travel beautifully with them.

• Design curriculum that can move seamlessly between residences, cities, countries, and cultures.
• Research destinations before travel and identify meaningful educational opportunities.
• Build lessons around geography, history, culture, language, nature, science, architecture, art, food, and local traditions.
• Identify museums, experts, guides, workshops, historical sites, nature experiences, and other resources that can deepen learning.
• Turn travel into meaningful educational experiences without making every family moment feel like school.
• Maintain academic continuity regardless of location.
• Adapt gracefully when travel schedules or family priorities change.

Learning should remain responsive, contextual, and alive wherever the family is.

Character Matters

Academic achievement matters enormously.

Who she becomes matters even more.

We want education to help cultivate kindness, empathy, independence, responsibility, resilience, courage, integrity, gratitude, curiosity, confidence without entitlement, the ability to handle frustration, the willingness to work hard at something that doesn't come easily, and respect for other people regardless of title or circumstance.

Children learn character not only through what adults tell them.

They learn through what adults model.

Which means who you are matters deeply.

High standards should feel like belief, not pressure.

We want someone who sees what a child is capable of and lovingly calls her toward it.

You don't lower the bar simply because something is difficult, but you also understand that rigor without warmth can extinguish curiosity.

You know how to combine expectation with encouragement, discipline with compassion, structure with flexibility, and excellence with joy.

You can hold a child to a high standard without ever making her feel that love, connection, or approval depends upon achievement.

You understand the difference between excellence and perfection.

Who You Are

Credentials open the door.

Character is what we're really looking for.

• Believes teaching is meaningful, important work.
• Has an unusually strong internal compass and does the right thing even when no one is watching.
• Takes enormous personal pride in the quality and integrity of your work.
• Has exceptionally high standards without creating an environment of fear or perfectionism.
• When you see something that could be better, your instinct is to thoughtfully improve it.
• Holds high standards while remaining compassionate, patient, and human.
• Is organized and structured, but never rigid for rigidity's sake.
• Believes details matter because people matter.
• Is warm, grounded, kind, and heart-centered.
• Derives genuine satisfaction from helping others thrive.
• Is naturally thoughtful and attentive to the needs of the people around you.
• Notices when someone needs support before they necessarily ask for it.
• Is generous with your knowledge, energy, encouragement, and care.
• Is confident because you are competent, not because you need to be the smartest person in the room.
• Is genuinely low ego.
• Is emotionally steady.
• Is deeply observant.
• Notices what a child isn't saying as carefully as what she is saying.
• Asks before assuming.
• Is curious yourself.
• Loves learning.
• Receives feedback without defensiveness.
• Can disagree thoughtfully and respectfully.
• Is willing to examine your own approach and ask, "How could I have done that better?"
• Can distinguish between excellence and perfection.
• Is willing to change course when something isn't working.
• Can take direction and then independently execute.
• Doesn't need constant recognition.
• Cares deeply without becoming controlling.
• Serves without needing to be needed.
• Understands discretion and the extraordinary trust involved in working inside a private home.
• Is flexible when plans change.
• Can adapt without creating drama.
• Is a true team player.
• Understands that supporting the whole family sometimes means helping outside the narrow boundaries of a lesson plan.
• Has a wonderful sense of humor.
• Brings calm energy into a room.
• Models the resilience, curiosity, kindness, integrity, and personal responsibility we hope to cultivate in a child.

You ask before you assume. You improve before you complain.

And while you have strong opinions about education, you understand something fundamental:

You are joining a family. You are not trying to replace one.

Partnership, communication, humility, and trust are essential.

Technology, AI & the Future of Learning

We want an educator who is technology-forward without being technology-dependent.

You should be genuinely curious about AI, educational technology, and how emerging tools can expand what is possible in personalized education.

You may use technology to personalize learning, develop curriculum, conduct research, generate new educational experiences, track progress, explore ideas, build projects, and connect with experts and resources around the world.

But you also know when the most powerful educational technology available is a book, a conversation, a microscope, a musical instrument, a muddy pair of shoes, or an afternoon outside.

What Success Looks Like

Success isn't simply completing a curriculum.

Success is a child who runs toward learning.

She asks more sophisticated questions.

She becomes increasingly independent.

She reads because she wants to know what happens next.

She sees a problem and wants to solve it.

She can explain what she believes and why.

She becomes comfortable being wrong because being wrong means she has discovered something new.

She develops grit when something is difficult.

She learns to treat people with kindness.

She works hard because she takes pride in doing something well, not because she is afraid of disappointing someone.

She develops her own internal compass.

She learns that caring for other people and pursuing excellence are not competing values.

She becomes increasingly capable of navigating the world with confidence while remaining curious about everything she doesn't yet understand.

And years from now, when she thinks about the person who helped shape her relationship with learning, we want that relationship to have been defined by joy, rigor, trust, curiosity, warmth, and possibility.

The Private Family Environment

This role requires an important kind of flexibility.

Family life does not operate like a traditional school.

Travel changes. Schedules move. Opportunities appear unexpectedly.

The right educator understands the difference between structure and rigidity.

You maintain educational standards while adapting intelligently to the family's life.

You will travel extensively with the family, work within private residences, collaborate with household and family-office team members, and become a trusted presence within the family's world.

This requires extraordinary discretion, judgment, adaptability, professionalism, situational awareness, communication, boundaries, and emotional maturity.

We are looking for someone who genuinely enjoys this environment rather than someone willing to tolerate it for the position.

Qualifications

We are looking for an exceptional combination of experience, academic expertise, judgment, and character.

• Proven governess or private home educator experience. This is a non-negotiable foundation of the role.
• IB PYP certification with demonstrated and documented classroom application.
• A strong STEM background with the ability to make mathematics and science genuinely exciting for a young child.
• A Master's degree in Education, Child Development, or a relevant academic specialty.
• 10+ years of teaching experience with exceptional, verifiable student outcomes.
• Demonstrated curriculum-design experience, including building programs from the ground up.
• Musical ability through instrument, voice, or deep musical literacy.
• Experience with inquiry-based and experiential education.
• Comfort working inside a dynamic private household.
• Ability and enthusiasm for extensive domestic and international travel.
• Strong written and verbal communication.
• Experience with AI tools and current educational technology.
• Homeschool-network experience and familiarity with collaborative learning communities.
• Exceptional discretion.
• Strong references from private families or educational leadership.
• A grounded, emotionally stable presence and genuine professional wisdom.

How to Apply

We are not looking for the educator with the most impressive collection of credentials on paper.

We are looking for the right human being to help shape another human being.

That deserves a thoughtful application.

Please submit your resume demonstrating governess and private-home educator experience, a multi-year curriculum framework rooted in IB PYP and/or STEM, two advanced inquiry-based lesson plans, examples of documented student outcomes, three relevant references, and a thoughtful cover letter answering the questions below.

Cover Letter Questions

1. Why this child, this family, and this particular kind of educational environment? What about this description genuinely resonates with you beyond the title or opportunity to travel?
2. What do you believe the purpose of education is for a six-year-old? If we spoke again when this child was sixteen, what would you hope your influence had helped create?
3. Tell us about a time you noticed something wasn't being done to the standard you believed it should be. What did you do? How did you determine whether to address it yourself, raise it with someone else, or let it go?
4. What is the difference between excellence and perfectionism? Tell us about a time you had to decide something was good enough and move forward.
5. Tell us about a child whose relationship with learning changed because of your teaching. What did you notice, what did you change, and what happened?
6. Tell us about a time you quietly did something meaningful for a child, family, colleague, or student that you knew you would probably never receive credit for. Why did you do it?
7. A child you care deeply about is capable of doing better than the work she is producing, but pushing harder is beginning to create frustration and resistance. What do you do?
8. Tell us about a time a parent or principal gave you feedback you disagreed with. How did you respond in the moment? What did you do afterward? Did the feedback ultimately change anything about your approach?
9. What does being "low ego" mean to you as an educator? How do you balance genuine expertise and strong educational convictions with working in partnership with parents inside their home?
10. How are you currently using AI in education? Please give us specific examples, and then tell us where you believe AI does not belong in the education of a young child.
11. Tell us something you are deeply curious about right now that has absolutely nothing to do with this job. What are you learning simply because you want to know?

One Final Detail

If you've made it this far, thank you.

The person we are looking for is observant, intentional, and attentive to the smallest details, because those details often tell us something about the larger whole.

In the final paragraph of your cover letter, please naturally incorporate the phrase: "Curiosity is a superpower."

It isn't a trick.

It's simply our first opportunity to see whether the care and attention you bring to an application reflect the care and attention you would bring to a child's education.

A Final Thought

Teaching a young child is extraordinary work.

You are helping shape how another human being understands learning, effort, failure, curiosity, kindness, responsibility, excellence, possibility, and herself.

We don't take that responsibility lightly.

Neither should you.

"Teaching is sacred work. Cultivating a young mind is both profound responsibility and extraordinary privilege."

If reading this leaves you energized, if your mind is already filling with questions and ideas, and if you believe your life's work has prepared you to help an extraordinary young person develop into an equally extraordinary human being, we would love to hear from you.