Program Manager

About Living Classroom
Join an organization of passionate, self-starting educators and garden professionals that make learning come alive and inspire the next generation of environmental stewards. You will be helping to make an impact on student learning as Living Classroom expands and grows, continuing our mission of providing engaging, hands-on lessons that stimulate curiosity. Living Classroom's mission is to inspire children to learn about and value the natural world through garden-based education.

About this position

This role manages all program activities and provides instruction at Sunnyvale Elementary School District (SESD) and nearby sites which have a contract with Living Classroom (LC). At 30 hours/week, the program manager would also be an instructor.

The Program Manager is the lead in coordinating with SESD school administrators, selecting curriculum,-learning and using the Caspio scheduling software and database with selectable lessons, inviting teachers to schedule lessons, and sending out various communications that keep all stakeholders updated as to the lesson schedule and status.. The Program Manager is part of the instructional team that leads Living Classroom’s (LC) hands-on, experiential, primarily outdoor lessons to children in grades T/K - 7th in SESD and other sites that have subscribed to the LC program. The Program Manager, when instructing, engages the students’ curiosity and enthusiasm for learning from nature, while providing environmental literacy-focused lessons that meet California’s Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards.

Additionally, the Program Manager has a key role in recruiting, training and retaining new and existing staff and docents, including promoting opportunities as needed, and interviewing candidates in partnership with the Executive Director. The Program Manager helps with community events, outreach, and volunteer opportunities. The Program Manager helps supervise the Garden Support team in planning and maintenance of school gardens for lesson delivery.

Job Description: Program Manager

Job title: Program Manager

Reports to: Program Director

Compensation: Hourly; $28-30 per hour

Hours: Part time; +/- 30 hours per week

Location: Based primarily in Sunnyvale. May also travel to other Living Classroom school sites located in Santa Clara County.

Start of Employment: Negotiable; Early May 2026

Responsibilities

Responsibilities and tasks may vary and change throughout the year. Key work tasks will include, but not be limited to:

• As part of the instructional team, lead lessons as an instructor.
• Set up, delivery, and clean up of lessons
• Work with school staff and administration and LC colleagues to decide on appropriate curriculum.
• Inform classroom teachers of their lesson options and provide sufficient support materials to allow them to make informed decisions about which to choose for their students and how to request them.
• Provide teachers with “send home” materials to inform parents about LC programs.
• Coordinate lesson prep with classroom educators and garden staff to ensure that each teacher has the needed materials for the lesson.
• Assess and update curriculum lessons as needed.
• Collaborate with Instructors, Garden Lead and Executive Director to create an alternative delivery in response to site requirements, if needed.
• Enter and update content into the Caspio database to allow all stakeholders to review lesson plans, available dates, and sign-up opportunities
• Troubleshoot various Caspio issues for LC staff and for classroom teachers; troubleshoot other challenges with school administration and LC staff.
• Provide direction and training, if needed, to new staff and teachers on the database system.
• Communicate regularly via newsletters and emails with school administrators and teachers.
• Teacher communications including scheduling, responding to general inquiries, rescheduling lessons, sending out reminders to sign up for lessons, etc.
• Provide curriculum and program information to ED for potential new programs/ clients
• Participate in preliminary meetings with potential clients to assess curriculum and programming needs.
• Review resumes for open positions, conduct initial phone screenings, schedule follow up interviews and hiring of new staff, when needed.
• Oversee quarterly training activities for staff and docents.
• Be proactive in recruiting, training and engaging new and existing docent volunteers.
• Create and manage individual, small ad-hoc/“one-off” programs as requested.
• Manually schedule ad-hoc/“one-off” lessons outside of Caspio using associated spreadsheets.
• Compile and share regular reports with LC’s Executive Director to share with stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Thoughtful, resourceful, and creative: this position launches seasonal “mini-programs” every year.
• Able to manage relationships with school administration with diplomacy and tact.
• Significant problem solving skills and a high degree of flexibility and initiative.
• Highly developed sense of organization, with the ability to juggle multiple projects simultaneously.
• Ability to work with and interpret budgets.
• Comfortable with technology and database input.
• Educational experience teaching of elementary and middle school-aged children, particularly in an outdoor setting.
• Friendly and enthusiastic: the Program Director is an ambassador for the program to current and potential clients.
• Collaborates well with those both inside LC and with external stakeholders.
• Knowledge or experience with gardening or environmental science is helpful but not required.

To Apply:

Send cover letter, resume and any questions to:

Position is open until filled, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The deadline to apply is April 30th. The position will begin in May 2026.

Pay: $28.00 - $30.00 per hour

Benefits:

• Flexible schedule

Work Location: In person