A chance to help build the school you always wished existed.

Teaching jobs like this don’t come around often. The chance to know each child deeply because class sizes are deliberately small, one teacher for every seven children. To reimagine education for a rapidly changing world. To work alongside a deeply passionate and high-performing team of educators. To let your creative ideas flow and actually bring them to life.

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Role at a glance

• Role: Senior Primary Teacher, grades 1–3
• Location: Adliswil, Switzerland
• Start date: August 2027, with the possibility of starting part-time earlier if available
• Commitment: 80–100% (additional part-time arrangements may also be possible)
• Languages: Fluent English; German proficiency is a strong plus but not required
• Experience: Substantial teaching experience, typically 7+ years
• Compensation: Typically 15–25% higher than most Zurich private schools, with salaries benchmarked to the official Zurich public teacher scale.
• Apply here

1. A rare teaching opportunity

Do you love teaching but feel boxed in by your current role? Do you find yourself imagining what school could look like if teachers had more freedom, students received more individual attention, and learning were designed around curiosity as well as academic depth?

At Lumos School (a small bilingual school unlike any other) you’ll teach in a nurturing environment with extraordinarily low student-to-teacher ratios of approximately 1:7, a highly collaborative team, and the autonomy to do some of the best work of your career.

As a Senior Primary Teacher in our grades 1–3 classroom, you’ll work alongside an experienced German-speaking primary teacher as part of a two-teacher classroom model. Together, you’ll share responsibility for the learning, development and day-to-day experience of our youngest students.

You’ll bring particular strength to the English side of our bilingual program, while also sharing responsibility across the broader grades 1–3 learning experience.

You’ll also serve as a personal learning coach for a small group of students and help us continue developing one of Zürich’s most innovative, personalized and high-quality learning environments.

2. Who we are

Founders

Our founders know what it takes to build a school because they’ve done it before.

They created an innovative school in the US in 2020 that now serves 900+ students and is considered one of the country’s strongest project-based schools (www.joinprisma.com).

After moving to Zürich, they searched for a school that would prepare their three children for a rapidly changing world and nurture their confidence, curiosity and love of learning. Not finding the right fit, they chose to create one.

Team

Our team brings together international expertise, deep teaching experience and a shared belief that school can be both rigorous and joyful.

We are collaborative by design. Teachers plan together, learn from one another, give and receive feedback, and contribute ideas across the school. Our teachers have been described by former employers as being “in the top 5–10% of all teachers” they had worked with.

We are looking for someone who can contribute at that same level: an experienced teacher who brings their own point of view and expertise, while genuinely enjoying the process of building something together.

The School

Lumos School is a small, bilingual (German–English) private school in the Zürich area, currently serving students in grades 1–7 and growing over time to grade 9.

We are intentionally small: small enough to know every child deeply, personalize learning, adapt quickly, and cultivate our community carefully.

At Lumos, we reject the trade-off between joy and rigor. Learning here is both fun and academically deep, grounded in the science of how children learn best.

Our students grow through exceptionally low student-to-teacher ratios, one-on-one coaching, and a highly personalized approach that creates space for strong academics, hands-on projects, development of non-academic skills and rich experiences beyond the classroom.

Beliefs

We adopt many of the practices of forward-thinking schools — self-paced learning, mixed-age groups, hands-on projects and a belief in intrinsic motivation. Four core beliefs define how we work:

• Learning how to learn — Curiosity, reflection and the ability to teach yourself are lifelong superpowers.
• Hard fun — The most exciting learning happens when students are both enjoying themselves and appropriately challenged.
• Agency — Students progressively take ownership of their goals, schedules, projects and learning journey.
• Depth + breadth — We pursue deep mastery of essentials while exploring widely to spark new passions and connections.

To learn more about Lumos, please visit Lumos School.

3. What you will do

Share ownership of the grades 1–3 classroom

You will work alongside our German-speaking grades 1–3 teacher to create an exceptional learning experience for our youngest students.

Together, you will share responsibility for literacy, numeracy, science, social studies and interdisciplinary learning, while nurturing curiosity, play, independence and strong social-emotional skills.

This is a senior classroom teaching role with substantial ownership. You will take responsibility for groups of learners, lead lessons independently, design learning experiences, assess progress, contribute to curriculum direction and help strengthen the systems and routines that support personalized learning.

Curriculum, assessment & individualized learning

At Lumos, some areas of learning, particularly math, reading and writing, are highly individualized, because children often progress at very different rates and need different levels of support and challenge.

Other subjects, such as science, social studies, art and music, are often best learned together, through shared discussion, hands-on investigation, projects and collaborative learning.

A major part of your role will be helping us get that balance right. You will:

• set clear individual learning goals and use assessment to understand what each child needs next
• translate those goals into well-structured short- and medium-term plans
• design rich whole-group learning experiences where shared inquiry and collaboration add value
• monitor progress and adjust support, challenge and grouping as students develop

Some children may need additional support in a particular skill; others may be ready to move significantly ahead. We expect our teachers to notice those differences and respond to them, while also knowing when the most powerful learning happens as a group.

English language and literacy

As a fluent English speaker, you will take particular responsibility for strengthening English language and literacy within our bilingual classroom, while sharing responsibility across the broader primary program.

You’ll help students build confidence in spoken English and develop strong foundations in reading, writing and communication.

Depending on your background and the needs of the students, this may include:

• early literacy and phonics
• reading instruction
• writing workshops
• vocabulary and oral language development
• supporting multilingual learners at different stages of English proficiency

You do not need to be fluent in German. However, German proficiency would be a significant advantage in our bilingual environment.

Designing engaging learning

We believe learning should be Hard Fun: challenging enough to stretch children, but engaging enough that they want to keep going.

You’ll design learning experiences that are purposeful, surprising, hands-on and intellectually demanding.

Sometimes that means explicit direct instruction. Sometimes it means games, investigations, discussions, stories or projects. We care less about following one teaching methodology than about choosing the approach that helps children learn best.

We are particularly interested in teachers who combine warmth with rigor, creativity with structure, and strong instincts with thoughtful planning.

Coaching

You’ll meet weekly with a small group of students for one-on-one coaching check-ins adapted to their age.

These conversations help students practice simple goal-setting, notice their progress, work through challenges and gradually develop greater self-awareness and independence as learners.

Just as importantly, coaching allows you to know a small group of children exceptionally well.

Building Lumos

As a school in its first year, and one that believes deeply in continuous improvement and adaptability, Lumos offers the opportunity to rethink education and help shape what the school becomes.

You’ll contribute meaningfully to the evolution of our curriculum, routines and culture, working closely with the broader teaching team to test ideas, learn from what works, and keep improving how we serve our students.

You’ll also take part in the wider life of the school, including field trips, expeditions, camps and community events.

4. Who we are looking for

We’re looking for the kind of person who reads this job description and thinks, “This is how I want to teach.”

Someone who lights up around younger children and understands both their enormous potential and their need for warmth, movement, structure and play.

Someone with the experience and confidence to take meaningful ownership of a classroom and curriculum, but who is equally comfortable sharing that ownership with another strong teacher.

Someone who loves designing rich, purposeful learning experiences and bringing them to life. At Lumos, teachers don’t simply follow a prescribed curriculum. They use core programs as a foundation where appropriate, then bring their own creativity, imagination and pedagogical judgment to make learning engaging and memorable. We provide significant protected planning time so teachers have the space to do this work well.

Someone who brings strong organization and follow-through alongside creativity and warmth.

Someone who can bring their own ideas and expertise while genuinely enjoying the process of working in a two-teacher classroom: planning together, dividing responsibilities fluidly, giving and receiving feedback, and putting what is best for the children ahead of individual ownership.

Someone who thinks creatively, isn’t afraid to experiment and understands that education must continue to evolve as the world changes.

In short: someone who was born to teach, and wants to do it as part of an unusually thoughtful and ambitious team.

Qualifications

• Fluent English
• German proficiency is a strong plus, but not required
• A teaching degree and substantial classroom teaching experience, typically 7+ years, ideally including significant experience with younger primary students (grades 1–3)
• Demonstrated experience taking ownership of curriculum planning, assessment and student progress
• Strong foundation in early childhood or early primary education
• Strong experience with differentiated and individualized instruction
• Strong skills in early literacy and numeracy
• Experience teaching English literacy, including phonics and beginning reading
• Understanding of bilingual or multilingual learners and early language development
• Strong organizational skills and experience creating clear classroom systems and routines
• Comfort with mixed-age environments and flexible groupings
• Experience with interdisciplinary or project-based teaching is a plus
• Familiarity with Lehrplan 21 is helpful but not required
• Experience with innovative educational approaches such as Montessori, project-based learning or personalized learning is a strong bonus
• Eligibility to work in Switzerland is essential

• Warm, kind and patient, with a genuine love of working with young children
• Deeply passionate about teaching
• Experienced, confident and comfortable taking responsibility
• Highly collaborative and excited by the idea of sharing ownership of a classroom
• Intellectually curious and always learning
• Reflective and open to feedback
• Exceptionally well organized and able to turn ideas into clear plans and systems
• Structured, while remaining flexible and responsive
• A clear, compassionate communicator with children, colleagues and families
• Generous with ideas and comfortable sharing ownership
• Creative and excited by designing engaging, meaningful learning experiences
• Comfortable taking initiative rather than waiting to be told what to do
• Strong follow-through and attention to detail
• Eager to help shape and improve a growing school
• Not afraid to roll up your sleeves, work hard and iterate as we learn together

Lumos Team Values

The following are our Lumos Team Values: the qualities we want to see and encourage in every member of our team, and that we will expect you to embody in how you work with students, colleagues and families.

• Gutsy: Unafraid to speak up, take risks, and think differently.
• Humble: Quick to give credit, slow to pass blame, open to feedback, always learning.
• Can-Do: Optimists who brainstorm solutions and always find a way.
• Team Players: Caring, helpful, eager to pitch in. We value collective success over individual silos.
• Driven: We hold ourselves and our students to high standards, care about the details, and keep improving to help every child learn and grow.

5. Compensation and benefits

• Typically 15–25% higher than most Zurich private schools, with salaries benchmarked to the official Zurich public teacher scale.
• Sixteen or more weeks of school holidays
• Significant protected planning time
• Relocation support if needed
• Exceptionally low student-to-teacher ratios (1:7)
• Real autonomy in how you teach
• Supportive leadership that believes in empowering teachers and trying new things
• Aligned, thoughtful families
• A creative, innovative, “can-do” culture
• The opportunity to help shape a school while it is still young enough for your ideas to genuinely matter

6. Next steps

If this role speaks to you, we would love to hear from you.

👉 Please complete our short application form here