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This story is part of our SPOTLIGHT series focusing on the state of education in Missouri. Read more here.

Keisha Seymour and Courtney Moulder, who met in high school in the 鈥�90s and traversed the country separately while building their educational careers, didn鈥檛 plan to return to their Missouri hometown and team up to save a failing charter school.

But that鈥檚 exactly what they did when they learned , established just northwest of St. Louis in 2022, was slated to shutter, in part because of poor student outcomes. 

The Pagedale campus, which served 140 students in one of the poorest regions of the state, struggled to fill open seats, was near financial collapse and was seemingly incapable of retaining its teachers, Moulder said: One first-grade class went through seven educators in a single academic year.

The pair was reluctant to lead a turnaround 鈥� they initially hoped to open their own school 鈥� but that all changed when they visited the campus. They took the reins in July 2024, first as co-directors. 

鈥淲e met the babies and we saw the importance in what was happening and how just desperate it was in this area,鈥� Moulder said. 鈥淎nd so we ended up accepting.鈥� 

Test scores improved dramatically under their stewardship: A March 2026 out of Saint Louis University examining the performance of high-poverty schools found The Leadership School had the sixth-best growth in reading in the 2024-25 academic year compared to 250 other Missouri schools and the 27th best in math. 

Despite this improvement, a majority of students are not yet proficient in either discipline. But, the two friends and their supporters said, their overall model has proven successful, and they will soon apply to the state and the Missouri Charter Public School Commission for an additional five years on their charter. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 a shock that this tiny little school that was barely able to keep things together would pull off that kind of growth trajectory,鈥� said Becky Langrall, who serves on The Leadership School’s seven-member board.

Knocking on doors and investing in teachers

Karen Brooks wasn鈥檛 impressed with any of the options available to her 11-year-old granddaughter when it came time to register the child in school. But, she said, she decided to take a chance on The Leadership School and it turned out to be a great decision. 

鈥淭he staff is very attentive, encouraging and supportive to the children and parents as well,鈥� Brooks told 社区黑料. 鈥淓very one of them seems to love their job, even on the rough days.鈥�

And, she added, the teachers are highly responsive and cooperative: they even provided Brooks with math tutoring so she could help her granddaughter with the subject.  

鈥淚鈥檓 really happy that we are part of this community of professionals that make each of us feel like family,鈥� she said. 

Winning over parents and caregivers like Brooks was not easy for Moulder and Seymour, who both graduated from the University of Missouri, Columbia, as psychology majors.

鈥淲e hustled,鈥� Moulder said, describing their efforts to boost enrollment. 鈥淲e were out on the streets knocking on doors. I did a lot of the digital campaigning, completely redesigned our website and re-marketed the school.鈥�

Money also helped. The pair won a $2 million federal grant and used it to expand the school鈥檚 infrastructure and staff. In just 26 months, enrollment soared to 380, and, relatedly, the school鈥檚 fund balance 鈥� dollars set aside to address unplanned expenditures, etc. 鈥� leapt from 3% of its annual budget to roughly 20%. 

It beat its annual enrollment goals for each of the two years and became financially stable within 12 months, Moulder said. The school, which recently added a cafeteria and has plans for a gymnasium, opened as a K-2 and now goes up to sixth grade. Moulder and Seymour expect to add grades 7 and 8 in the next few years.  

, a nonprofit trying to grow the charter sector in Missouri, also provided financial support, mostly for professional development. Moulder and Seymour knew the organization well: they were part of its program in 2023, learning how to design and launch a public school in St. Louis. It was during their fellowship that the pair learned of The Leadership School鈥檚 plight.

One of their top priorities was to change the school鈥檚 culture and make it more attractive to prospective hires. 

They turned to The Opportunity Trust for instructional coaching and to , a nonprofit that launched in 2018 to improve teacher quality and retention in the city. First-year teachers are than the average teacher to leave Missouri public education, according to Saint Louis University鈥檚 education policy research center. 

The Leadership School, through its partnerships, has also helped many of its educators earn their master鈥檚 degrees for free from prestigious Washington University in St. Louis.

And the charter offers something many others don鈥檛: A chance for elementary teachers to specialize in a specific subject rather than plan for several of them. 

鈥淚nstead of having the insane expectation that elementary school teachers should teach five different content areas and prep all of them every night, becoming a jack and not a master, this allowed for a far deeper understanding of the core ideas within lessons,鈥� board member Langrall said.

The school currently employs 25 teachers with an average salary of $60,000, on par with the surrounding school systems. Among them is Lauren鈥橝shley 鈥嬧�婱artin, an English language arts teacher who works with third graders. 

Martin said she鈥檚 excited to be part of a school that鈥檚 actually growing when so many others are shrinking.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 been an amazing experience for me personally,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have been all hands on deck from our leaders all the way down to custodial staff. We all have a part to play.鈥�

Every staff member who was asked to return for the second year did so, Moulder said, and more than 90% were retained for the current school year. 

A focus on student well-being

Seymour, describing her early hesitancy about taking over the school, said she was worried the job would require skills neither she nor her friend possessed. 

Moulder, a alumna, is now the school鈥檚 executive director, overseeing the business side of the charter as well as academics. Seymour, who worked in a similar program for Chicago Public Schools, is the managing director of student support. 

The pair quickly learned their responsibilities would stretch far beyond their titles. 

鈥淲hen we first came in, we had no team to support us,鈥� Moulder said. 鈥淪o, we took on getting everything ready for the new year: putting furniture together, cleaning and dealing with toilets that overflowed often. We worked nine weeks straight without taking a day off.鈥�

The two women became the finance, curriculum and student support teams.

鈥淲hen people say, 鈥楥all the back office鈥�, we are the back office,鈥� Seymour said.

Langrall said the board had to take an active role in transforming the school as well, in part because there wasn鈥檛 enough personnel to do it without their assistance. 

Seymour said part of the reason she decided to accept the challenge was Moulder’s pledge that the campus could focus on one of her key passions: students鈥� social-emotional well-being.

鈥淪he was like, 鈥極h my gosh, what if we open this school?鈥欌�� Seymour recalled. 鈥淚 was like, 鈥楪irl, no way.鈥� And then she said, 鈥榃hat if you get to launch all of your therapeutic things within this school?鈥� And I said, 鈥榊ou may have put a carrot out in front of me.鈥欌�� 

There are three clinical counselors on site 鈥� one is part time 鈥� offering individual and group therapy for kids who need it. The Leadership School students still face significant, ongoing challenges

鈥淭here’s systemic racism here in St. Louis,鈥� Seymour said. 鈥淚t is so very desolate. It was a defunded community, basically. And so kids have learned to cope and be adaptive to this lifestyle.鈥� 

More than 95% of The Leadership School students are Black, and more than 80% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a poverty indicator. In nearby St. Louis, slightly more than are Black, roughly 11% are white and nearly 9% are Hispanic. All district students receive free meals at school.

The city school system has long been struggling. It lost full accreditation from the state in January and received in an audit last month that documented widespread governing and oversight failures. The school board is scheduled to vote Oct. 13 on a plan .

Seymour understands some of these challenges, especially around educational inequity, having faced it herself. 

She and Moulder arrived at their destination on parallel but unequal paths: Seymour was part of a St. Louis Public School voluntary transfer program and endured an hour-long ride to and from a quality high school just minutes from Moulder鈥檚 door. 

The pair knew even back then as teenagers that something was very wrong with educational access and, over time, resolved to help change it. 

The school they鈥檝e built together also focuses on immediate, targeted interventions for struggling students. And at least one child recognizes the effort. 

Sixth grader Destiny Brooks, Karen Brooks鈥� granddaughter, said she appreciates her teachers鈥� ability to reach kids on all different levels inside the same classroom.  

鈥淭hey teach them at a pace that they can learn,鈥� she said, adding that while she is a strong reader, she needs help with mathematics.

Overall, she said, she鈥檚 excited to go to school each day and tries hard not to be late. Asked if she had a favorite teacher, she couldn鈥檛 name just one. 

鈥淧robably all of them,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey are all nice, kind and helpful.鈥�

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