ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A new charter school is attracting attention in Pagedale because it’s the first charter school in St. Louis County.
Missouri state education money is now following one group of students to The Leadership School, instead of the public school system. It’s possible because of the Normandy Schools Collaborative, the district where the school is credited, is only provisionally accredited.
“So, what sound does the ‘P’ make?" Student and community affairs director Denitria Neil Student said.
Neil is in a classroom working with a young student on how to pronounce the word “play.”
“What sound does the ‘L’ make?” she said.
The student would succeed. The interaction took place during morning affirmations. Recognizing success is built into the culture at The Leadership School.
“Tenacity,” Neil said to the class. “Say ‘tenacity.’"
The class eagerly responds in chorus, “Tenacity!”
“What does tenacity mean? We don’t what?”
One little girl stands up and proudly exclaimed, “We don’t give up!”
“The culture here is one of belonging, one of safety, one of acceptance and one of love," Neil said.
Morning affirmations continued.
“We’re going to go over what we’ve been talking about all month about being great, and about being a leader,” Neil said. “Ja'siyrah?”
“You’re not supposed to be bad,” the boy proudly proclaims. “You're supposed to be good.”
Neil prompts another student.
“Sekai?”
“You listen,” the child responds.
“What else, Sekai?”
“Confidence!” the child said.
It’s clear the five classrooms of kindergarten through second grade students here have been through this before. They know and relish the answers to these questions.
“In terms of academics, we have done assessments on all of our students," Neil said. "We started with the (English Language Arts) assessments that came out of the curriculum and also just finished the NWEA assessments.”
Parents are pleased.
“Once I came in and started learning the concept and the curriculum they would be using, I was like – this is it," parent Shanetta Windom said. "Not just that. Their interacting with my daughter and my nephew has been amazing.”
Chardae Rigdon discussed her child’s experience.
“Here at The Leadership School, they talked about what my son can do for that future with his big personality, and they tailored it to his interest," Rigdon said. "So, for him, that has been huge because, if he’s interested, he’s going to engage.”
As the first charter school in St. Louis County, officials at The Leadership School said they realize people are monitoring their progress.
“We’re on the hot seat for lack of a better phrase,” Neil said. “All eyes are upon us. Everyone is poised to see what the leadership is going to do and bring, and how we’re going to do that, and we’re up for the challenge. We want people to see what we have to offer.
The enthusiasm was infectious.
“We can do hard things!” shouted one little boy during morning affirmations.
“We can do hard things,” Neil said. “Very good.”
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