Good day, CharterFolk.
Today we are pleased to share a Contributor Column from Keisha Seymour and Courtney Moulder, Co-Founders and Co-Executive Directors of The Leadership School in St. Louis, Missouri.
We provide bios for Courtney (pictured to the left) and Keisha below.
Keisha Seymour is a North Side St. Louis native. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from Mizzou. Keisha began teaching as a Chicago Teaching Fellow. She earned her M.Ed in Curriculum-Instruction and taught and coached for 11 years in CPS. She pursued a School Psychology Specialist Degree working closely with students and families creating space for student validation. Following that, she worked as the Elementary Intervention Manager for KIPP DC. Returning to St. Louis in 2017, Keisha worked at Kirkwood as a District Curriculum Facilitator focusing on Science, the Arts, and SEL. Keisha recently served as an Instructional Specialist at North Side Community helping to create a rigorous learning environment for student success. Keisha entered her third year as a Ph.D. Counseling student with a passion for reimagining how community outreach and alternative therapy models promote healing in Black and Brown communities. Her passion is to promote mental wellness for all.
Courtney Moulder began her career in education in 2006 when she joined Teach For America and taught middle school math. She spent the next 12 years as a classroom teacher with a track record of success in schools across Miami, Chicago and Atlanta. Courtney taught for 9 years in traditional public schools and 3 years in public charter schools. In 2018, Courtney moved to Austin, Texas to work as the middle-grades Mathematics Curriculum Manager. Her and her team applied for and were awarded an Education Innovation and Research grant that allowed them to develop a constructivist student-centered mathematics curriculum for 6ththrough AP math courses. In 2022, Courtney moved back to her hometown of St. Louis where she was able to work with North Side Community School on curricular and instructional reform. In August of 2023, Courtney began her work with the Opportunity Trust as an Innovative Schools Fellow.
From Friendship to Responsibility: Leading a Turnaround That Matters
In 1996, two girls started high school together just outside of St. Louis. One woke up before dawn to catch a 90-minute bus from North St. Louis. The other lived minutes away.
At the time, we did not yet have language for inequity. But we were living it.
We became friends. And over time, that friendship became something deeper: a shared understanding that opportunity should not depend on where a child wakes up.
Nearly three decades later, that belief brought us back home, where we now co-lead a charter school that is equal parts start-up and turnaround.
By 2022, we were both mothers and veteran educators, each with nearly two decades of experience in classrooms and leadership roles across the country. Returning to St. Louis sharpened something for both of us. The gaps we had experienced as students were still present, and in many ways, more pronounced.
There were not enough high-quality school options. Academic gaps had widened after the pandemic. Teacher turnover was high. In too many classrooms, students were not being prepared for what comes next.
We set out to start a new school.
Instead, we were asked to take over one.
The Leadership School had opened in 2022 with bold ambition. It was the first charter school in St. Louis County, created under unique circumstances tied to district accreditation.
But by early 2024, it was at real risk of closing. The school was financially unstable, academically struggling, and operationally fragile. There was no clear plan for growth, and staffing instability had taken a toll on both students and culture.
Saying yes to leading TLS meant stepping into something unfinished. It also meant recognizing what was at stake. If this school failed, it would not just be a single closure. It would close off possibilities for families across North St. Louis County.
So we said yes.
What followed was both a turnaround and a startup, happening at the same time.
In a matter of months, we had to stabilize finances, rebuild enrollment, create a facilities plan, and design an instructional model that could address years of unfinished learning. At the same time, we had to recruit and retain a team willing to take on work that was both urgent and uncertain.
One of the earliest turning points was securing a $2 million CSP grant. That investment allowed us to build out classrooms, support teacher development, and begin creating the conditions for consistency and growth.
From there, progress became visible. The school’s financial position stabilized and then strengthened. Enrollment exceeded projections. Waitlists began to form in multiple grades.
But the real shift was happening inside classrooms.
What we saw early on was difficult. More than half the staff had turned over. Some classrooms had a rotating set of substitutes. In others, instruction lacked rigor or consistency.
We knew that if anything was going to change, it had to start with adults.
We rebuilt the team with intention and designed a model that treats teaching as a profession that requires time, support, and expertise. Teachers now have 2.5 hours each day for planning, collaboration, and coaching. Roles are departmentalized so educators can deepen their content knowledge. Coaching is not occasional; it is embedded.
The result is a team that is both stable and invested. In a field where turnover is often expected, every teacher who was invited to return chose to do so.
That stability has translated into stronger instruction and, in turn, student growth.
The academic gains have been significant, though we view them as a beginning rather than a destination.
Within a year, the percentage of students reading on grade level increased dramatically, while the number of students multiple years behind declined just as sharply. Math outcomes showed similar movement.
More recently, internal benchmarks show continued acceleration. In just one semester, the percentage of students reading on or above grade level more than doubled, and the number of students significantly behind dropped substantially.
Perhaps most notably, TLS was recognized in the top 1% of schools in Missouri for reading growth.
These results matter, not as proof that the work is done, but as evidence that it is working.
Growth at TLS is not only academic. It is physical and cultural as well.
We are in the midst of expanding our facilities, adding classrooms and shared spaces to accommodate a growing student body and a long-term vision of a full K–8 school.
At the same time, we are building a school culture that reflects and celebrates our students. Families are engaged. Students see themselves in the work. The idea that our “little learners” are also “little leaders” is not just language. It is visible in how students show up each day.
This work is unfolding at a moment when Missouri’s charter landscape is evolving. Access is expanding beyond traditional urban centers. Public support is growing. Funding mechanisms are beginning to shift in ways that create more opportunity for schools and students.
But policy does not change outcomes on its own. Execution does.
The community we serve has long faced limited access to high-quality schools, with proficiency rates in surrounding districts often in the teens and nearly all students qualifying for free or reduced lunch.
If TLS succeeds, it creates more than a strong school. It creates a pathway. It signals that high-quality options can exist and expand in North St. Louis County.
We often come back to where this started.
Two girls. One on a bus before sunrise. One just down the street.
The difference between them was not potential. It was access.
Today, we lead a school built on the belief that access should not be determined by geography or circumstance. That belief shapes every decision we make, from who we hire to how we teach to what we expect from ourselves and our students.
This work is hard. It is often uncertain. But it is also deeply personal.
For us, this is not just a turnaround story.
It is a responsibility we have been carrying since 1996.