This week, we profile the extraordinary Steven Bartholomew, the executive director of New Legacy Charter School in Aurora, Colorado.
Steven Bartholomew watched his own son struggle in a traditional school system and then thrive when given a choice for something different. That transformation shaped not only his entire educational career but also his life’s work. For Steven, this approach is more than a method — it’s personal.
“I kind of think everything has led to being in a charter school,” said Steven. “What I mean by that is I should say instead of charter school, everything has led to being in a school that offers a more student-centered, learner-centered education.”
Though in education for 32 years, Steven has been in charter schools for only eight. Steven began his career in a college admissions office before a mentor pointed out to him that he was good with high school students and should consider being a teacher.
“I never thought about being a teacher,” he said. “Then I realized even in my job as an admissions counselor at my college, I was teaching.”
Discovering the Power of Choice
Steven’s first teaching position was in Rapid City, South Dakota, where he taught English and coached the debate team, showing him something essential about motivation and choice. In debate, he saw firsthand how self-direction and interest create investment in learning. Students who opted into debate were highly motivated, curious, and willing to push themselves academically. That contrasted sharply with students in traditional classrooms, who he felt had no say in their learning.
“The reason I loved that was the fact that the students are choosing to do debate,” he said. “And that’s my first hint of seeing students who have a choice versus students who didn’t have a choice in what they wanted to do.”
Beyond motivation, debate taught Steven the value of student voice and critical thinking, skills that became central to his approach at New Legacy decades later. In 2001, he was recognized as South Dakota Debate Coach of the Year and received the Presidential Scholar Distinguished Teacher Award by the U.S. Department of Education. Steven recalls evenings coaching students, watching them craft arguments, present persuasively, and mentor one another — all of which reinforced a core principle: learning flourishes when students are empowered to make choices that matter to them.
“I want to say to leaders, fight for what is right for the students,” said Steven. “And what I mean by that is the state asks certain things of you. It’s like you need to do this, you need to do this and this and this.”
From Debate Coach to Educational Innovator
From South Dakota, Steven and his family relocated to Rhode Island, where he joined the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical as advisor, principal, and mentor principal. The Met High School offers a unique and innovative career and technical program to all high school-aged children in Rhode Island. The Met is also part of the Big Picture Learning network, which deepened Steven’s school choice philosophy. In 2013, Steven received the Ted Sizer Award for outstanding leadership in Big Picture Education.
“That’s when I realized it’s about getting to know the students as individuals and getting to know kind of what really makes them tick,” said Steven. “In traditional education, it’s content over context. I think in alternative ed, or in learner-centered, or in my case, in my charter school – it’s about context before content.”
“As a parent, I see the importance of choice, and that’s why charters are important, because charters give choice,” said Steven.
A School for Two Generations
In 2018, Steven and his wife moved west to be closer to family. That’s when he joined New Legacy Charter School in Aurora, Colorado. New Legacy is the only high school focused on serving teen parents and their children on the east side of the Denver metro area, and it is the only one in the metro area that serves teen mothers and fathers.
New Legacy is unique among charter schools in that it employs a two-generational approach to education, providing support to both parenting teenagers and their young children. Under his direction, Steven shifted New Legacy’s focus from a college-prep model to a “diploma plus” model. As of 2023, every student who graduates has a “diploma plus.”
“Every student who graduates from New Legacy has to have a diploma plus, and the plus is that while in high school, they will have had real-world learning experiences, either internships, college classes, or certification programs,” said Steven.
That simple idea of a diploma plus has become a defining part of the school’s identity. Every graduate leaves with not only a credential, but also with real-world skills and connections to future opportunities.
“What I tell my staff is to do what is right for the students to make them successful in life,” said Steven. “My job as a leader is to translate that for what the state wants, and if we’re doing what is right by the students, I will fight for that with the state every step of the way.”
Flexibility in Choice and Size
New Legacy is authorized by the Colorado Charter School Institute, which gives it the autonomy to move quickly and design programs that meet the unique needs of students. The charter model allows New Legacy to move quickly and adapt to student needs — a flexibility Steven embraces.
“We have the flexibility as a small school,” said Steven. “We’re our own school. We don’t have anybody to report to in the sense that we don’t have to talk about other schools.”
Its success has inspired other schools. When Steven began, only four Big Picture Learning schools existed in Colorado, and now there are twelve, many of which first visited New Legacy. The Colorado Department of Education has also recognized the school, inviting it to present its competency-based transcript and curriculum at conferences.
In 2025, Steven was named to the Colorado League of Charter Schools‘ annual Hall of Fame as the Advocate of the Year Award, which honors individuals who make a profound impact on public policy and advocacy for charter schools.
“More than anything else, it’s about choice. It’s about meeting the students where they’re at. I always say the first few days of school, I don’t want to hear about content or curriculum. I want you to play. I want you to have fun with the students and build relationships,” Steven said. “Once you do that, the content and skills will come, because they will listen to you, because they respect you, because they have a relationship with you.”