Employment Openings

Director of Development
Start date: July 1, 2026

Learning Specialist, TK-8 Grades
Start date: August 17, 2026

Teacher, 1st and 2nd Grade
Start date: August 17, 2026

Synergy is a progressive, independent TK-8 school with a vibrant, diverse community in San Francisco’s Mission District. Since 1973, the school has flourished as an educational cooperative, in which teachers and staff are empowered to direct the school in its commitment to the highest standards of progressive education, global awareness and social justice.

With competitive salaries, Synergy School also offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits program – including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and worker’s compensation insurance. In addition, regular, full-time employees and part- time employees who regularly work 20 or more hours per week or 50% FTE are eligible to participate in the school’s 403(b) program. Once eligibility criteria have been met, employees will be able to participate in the plan, and the school will contribute 6% of an employee’s gross annual salary.

Working at Synergy School in an educational cooperative requires active participation in shared decision-making, contributing your ideas, working to build consensus, stepping in to assume responsibilities, and after a decision has been made, going forward with the voice of the group. A strong co-op member is able to be assertive, flexible, organized, take risks to speak up and try new things, communicate respectively, and be able to follow through with decisions and actions. It involves sharing space and time and job responsibilities that are specific to the co-op:

● A mandatory staff meeting from 2:40 – 5:00 PM each Wednesday.
● Three work weeks each year (two in August and one after the school year ends in late May or early June).
● A two-day staff retreat in August before the school year begins.
● At least five board meetings a year for full-time teachers and some administrative staff.
● Serving actively on a board and/or co-op committee(s).
● Planning and participating in student overnight trips.
● Performing weekly snack and lunch duty.
● Performing weekly drop-off and pick-up duty.
● Performing kitchen duty.

Synergy School was founded on the values of encouragement, cooperation, respect, and responsibility. Using this philosophy, Synergy strives to provide an environment where children are respected and respectful, where they know they are responsible for themselves, and where they experience logical and natural consequences for their choices and behavior. The Agreement System is a powerfully positive way of helping children grow and is unique to Synergy.

I agree to make Synergy a respectful learning community, free of bias, by…
● Keeping a safe space, without prejudices, for everyone’s body and feelings.
● Respecting all property.
● Participating academically.
● Participating in all other school activities.
● Being in a designated space.
● Agreeing to leave quickly and quietly when waved out.

Employees are expected to follow the agreements concerning respect and safe space, which includes tone of voice, language, and physical interactions that are deemed aggressive or sexual. If an interaction between a staff member and student is inappropriate, another member of the cooperative will be brought in to facilitate a conversation to process the incident.

At Synergy, professional development is a hallmark of the school’s culture, encouraging teachers and staff to pursue lifelong learning. These opportunities include attending conferences, workshops, visits to other schools, summer institutes, and more. Offered throughout the school year, faculty can also apply to attend summer opportunities.

Here are some examples of professional development opportunities that our teachers and staff have recently attended: Progressive Education Network (PEN), National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI), Bay Area Independent School Librarians (BAISL), American Orff-Schulwerk Association, Teaching for Artistic Behavior, Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools (ATLIS), National Business Officers Association (NBOA), and more.

Synergy School is an Equal Opportunity Employer and values workplace diversity. Applicants will not be discriminated against because of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, political affiliation, age, religion, creed, national origin, disability, ancestry, ethnicity, marital status, parental status, domestic partner status, veteran status, medical condition (cancer-related), or the conditions Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and AIDS-related conditions or other non-merit factors or any category provided by ordinance.

This page was updated on February 9, 2026