Z Combinator Fellowship

Z Combinator Fellowship (SY26–27)

Zeta Charter Schools seeks fellows for the Z Combinator Fellowship, running from July 2026 through January 2027. We welcome applicants from all U.S. states who plan to open a school in Fall 2027 and have applied for charter authorization by the start of the program.

Who We Are

Z Combinator is a charter startup school and growth engine for schools of the future designed to to accelerate the growth of high-quality charter seats across the nation. We empower charter founders, leaders, and educators with the tools, resources, and expertise to build world-class schools.

Z Combinator is a fully funded, seven-month Fellowship offered at no cost to participants. It is operated by Zeta Charter Schools in pursuit of our mission to ensure that every child in America has access to the highest-quality, free education from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.

Our Fellowship and selection process is equitable, inclusive, and empowering. Since launch, Z Combinator Fellows have founded 11 schools across six states.

Why Z Combinator

Too many aspiring charter school founders never make it to day one.

Charters are often founded by leaders with strong academic or day-to-day school operational experience but who may otherwise not yet be equipped to tackle the massive business, operational, legal, and political challenges facing early-stage charter startups. These challenges often distract leaders from their core work—delivering high-quality education—and can delay or prevent a school’s launch altogether.

Venturing down the founder’s path, new charter founders often find that the path is not only incredibly challenging but also isolating, as the founder-leader uniquely bears responsibility for every aspect of a charter startup’s success (or failure).

Z Combinator empowers charter founders with the mentoring, resources, tools, and expertise to build world-class schools and the knowledge they need to launch strong. We support you through your pre-launch year, helping you deeply connect with other charter founders nationwide going through the same experience, and preparing you with timely expert advice and coaching from individuals who have successfully launched and scaled world-class schools.

Z Combinator equips you to launch strong on day one, while making incredible connections with other charter founders.

What Happens at Z Combinator

3 In-Person and 2 Virtual Sessions:
Fellows participate in three in-person sessions (16 total days) in New York City at Zeta Charter Schools for intensive, hands-on learning, and two virtual sessions. In-person learning includes interactive workshops with Zeta leaders during Zeta’s summer training and professional learning program; classroom visits; leader-teacher coaching sessions; and operational walkthroughs to observe how Zeta approaches processes like student arrival. Fellows also engage in facilitated school launch planning—from vision-setting to forming your tactical checklist leading up to Day 1—and business and operations sessions (e.g., people operations, budgeting, family outreach). We balance our intensive, hands-on sessions with opportunities to connect and rejuvenate with the Z Combinator team and cohort.

In-Person Session Dates (NYC):

• Session I: July 13–24, 2026
• Session II: September 14–18, 2026
• Session III: January 11–15, 2027

Virtual Session Dates:

• October 28, 3:30–5:00 pm ET
• November 18, 3:30–5:00 pm ET

Cohort Experience
Z Combinator fosters a close-knit cohort experience. Z Combinator Fellows make connections and relationships with each other that last beyond the program.

School Launch Resource Creation
Through workshops, coaching, and individualized support, Fellows leave Z Combinator with a wide variety of exemplar Zeta resources and customized school launch deliverables, including: a polished fundraising pitch deck, a school launch project plan, an academic scope & sequence, a year one budget, an organizational hiring/staffing plan, and so much more!

Office Hours
Fellows have access to optional virtual office hours with Zeta leaders between sessions for targeted support, such as pitch practice, feedback on launch plans, enrollment strategy problem-solving, or 1:1 coaching.

Alumni Community
Upon successful completion of your Z Combinator Fellowship year, you join a distinguished community of Z Combinator Alumni, which provides ongoing support through a Slack community, cross-cohort virtual sessions, and in-person meetups when possible. Our network of Z Combinator Alumni is crucial to our mission of ensuring every child in America has access to free, high-quality public education, pre-K to 12th grade.

The New York Experience
We want you to have a wonderful experience while you visit and learn in the Big Apple! Fellows receive Z Combinator swag and participate in cohort outings to classic NYC experiences. Past outings have included Broadway hits Hamilton and The Lion King and a Mets baseball game! Future outings may vary. Z Combinator covers the cost of all lodging, food, transportation, and cohort outings throughout your stay.

What You Bring

• Proven people leadership and long-term commitment: A strong track record of leading, supporting, and developing teams to achieve meaningful outcomes.
• Reflective leadership and continuous growth: Demonstrated self-awareness, humility, and responsiveness to feedback.
• Deep community connection: Lived or professional experience in the community you plan to serve, or a school design deeply responsive to community needs.
• Equity-centered practice: A school model intentionally designed to serve low-resourced students, with demonstrated success supporting similar populations.
• Unwavering belief in student excellence: A clear, compelling vision for instruction, culture, and systems, paired with accountability for outcomes while maintaining a firm belief that all students—without exception—can achieve at high levels when given the right conditions.

Qualifications

• At least 5 years of relevant professional experience, including demonstrated leadership and management experience
• Proof of having applied for charter authorization prior to start of the Fellowship
• Clear, persuasive justification for the selected school location, grounded in community need and opportunity
• Evidence of sufficient interest and ability to enroll the minimum viable number of students necessary to launch the school

Application Timeline

• Stage 1: Applications open February 2026 on a rolling basis; close when filled or by June 30, 2026
• Stage 2: Selected candidates invited to complete a one-way video interview
• Stage 3: Finalists complete a 30-minute virtual live interview and submit three professional references (including at least one from a prior fellowship, if applicable)
• Stage 4: Fellowship offers extended on a rolling basis

Z Combinator has a strong commitment to diversity. Candidates of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.