Board of Directors

What Makes Our Board of Directors Strong?

The North Side Community School board has been strategically assembled to represent a diverse group of passionate community volunteers, education experts, and St. Louis business leaders who believe in the power of quality education for all of our children. Our board members are committed to leveling the playing field when it comes to access to quality education in a safe learning environment.

Board Meetings:

Meetings are held on the third Tuesday of each month at 4:30PM. The meeting will take place in person on our middle school campus.

Monthly Board Meeting Schedule & Documents

Board meetings are open to the public. Agendas and minutes are updated monthly here.

Board Schedule

Board Packets/Minutes

2025

2024

2023

*denotes no meeting occurred during that month

2024-2025 Board of Directors

Officers

Kathy joined the NSCS board in August 2013. She has been active in projects in education and housing in St. Louis for decades as a Beyond Housing board member, a board member of Loyola Academy, and has served on the Board for Operations Food Search. She was active in St. Louis Public Schools for five years through participation in the Cole School Task Force, a support group for Cole.

Michael is a Partner with Moneta Group Investment Advisors, a firm that specializes in providing family office and institutional advisory services. Michael is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia and Saint Louis University School of Law.

Fred is the President of Falker Consulting Group, Inc., a consulting and human resource development training firm, and former Director of Workforce Development for the Saint Louis Zoo. He has been an organizational development consultant for over 30 years, helping organizations with performance management, customer service, and inclusion & diversity consulting and training. At the Saint Louis Zoo, his work focused on helping the organization establish itself as one of the best places to work, serve and volunteer in the country.

Over the past twenty-five years, Fred has developed and introduced a fundamentally new and better approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This approach goes beyond today’s anti-racism and unconscious/implicit bias training. Instead of focusing on the differences between people, Fred focuses on the distance between them and the behaviors that drive connection, inclusion, and belonging.

Fred has partnered with Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute to develop a program called “Include to bring distance paradigm thinking and behavioral change into organizations.” Fred is also working on a book detailing this transformative way of thinking about inclusion and diversity titled, Seeing the Box: Connecting with People.

A few of the organizations Fred has served are Spire Inc., BJC Health System, SSM Health System, Bethesda Health System, Miles Laboratories, Keeley Construction, Boeing, Johnson and Johnson, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Commerce Bank, Ralston Purina, Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant, Saint Louis Zoo and U.S. Department of Education.

Ken has served our most vulnerable children for more than 30 years (1973-2004) through the Juvenile Division of the St. Louis City Family Court. He initially served as a Deputy Juvenile Officer before becoming a founding member of the Intensive Supervision Unit for our most troubled youth. He earned his master’s degree in social work at Saint Louis University in 1987, which allowed him to take on more responsibility. From 1993-2004, he held supervisory roles in the Child Abuse/Neglect Investigation Unit and the Care and Protection/Permanency Planning Group.

Since his retirement, Mr. Rinderknecht has served as a volunteer for the nonprofit Ready Readers. Each week, he reads to pre-kindergarten students at three schools in the City of St. Louis–including NSCS. He received an Outstanding Volunteer of the Year award for his work. He and his wife, Judge Barbara Wallace, remain actively involved after more than 20 years at East St. Louis organizations that provide back-to-school supplies for more than 250 elementary school children every fall.

Members

Lindsay joined the NSCS board in August 2021. Prior to joining NSCS, Lindsay was active with The Little Bit Foundation, as well as Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri. Lindsay is an attorney and Partner at Carmody MacDonald P.C., where she specializes in civil litigation. Lindsay is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia and Saint Louis University School of Law.

Byron recently retired as a Partner with Armstrong Teasdale primarily engaged in the firm’s commercial litigation practice and is Practice Group Leader of the firm’s Construction Law Practice. He also has extensive experience in the areas of real estate, securities, and environmental litigation in state and federal courts. His securities practice includes the representation of investment firms and brokers in state and federal courts, as well as before the NASD and NYSE. Byron is a graduate of the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania and the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law.

Tracee received her economics degree from the University of Illinois-Champaign and her MBA from Saint Louis University. She worked as an Actuarial Analyst at National Casualty Company and as an analyst and manager in Financial Reporting, Planning and Analysis at The May Department Stores Company. She is an active volunteer. She served on various Clayton School District Parent Teacher Organizations for 18 years, coached and volunteered for Girls on the Run and was Co-Chair of the Girls High School Booster Club for 6 years. She is an active volunteer at The Church of St. Michael-St. George in Clayton serving as a Vestry member, Centennial Co-Chair, member of the Youth Ministry Leadership Team, Greeter and Sunday School teacher. She is a board member of St. Louis YPO-Gold and is a member of the Junior League of St. Louis. Tracee and her husband, Bob, have three daughters in college.

Candace Johnson is an attorney in the firm’s litigation department. She focuses her practice in employment law. She advises clients on employment-related and HR matters, including employee discipline, workplace investigations, employee terminations, and various state and federal employment laws. She also guides clients through the development of employment applications and agreements, employee handbooks of policies and procedures, and severance packages. Prior to joining the firm, Candace was a summer associate for both a law firm and an in-house counsel department where she worked on projects in labor and employment, real estate, and general litigation. Having worked with a law firm and an in-house department gave her the unique opportunity to see a legal matter from both the client and law firm perspective, positioning her to better serve clients.

Mr. Woosley started a newspaper career at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch after earning his masters degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism. After three years, he began work at an electronic parts wholesaler/distributor and moved to Chicago. He became President of the firm in 1984, and subsequently sold the business in 1995.

After Graduate School of Social Work at Washington University and working as a counselor at an alternative school in St. Louis County, with two fellow counselors he founded Sports and Family, a counseling practice serving young adults struggling with the stresses of the competitive arena.

After selling the practice to his co-founders, he started Monkey Business, a program offering after-school physical education for non-athletic students. That led to involvement with several school districts, including SLPS, where he worked for two years in a program to improve the athletic facilities of all SLPS schools.

Visiting and observing so many different schools led to a belief that perhaps there was a different way for school improvement. Being part of the North Side Community School start-up team was a natural progression.

Michael Quinlan recently retired from a 40 year career in leadership and organizational development working with Fortune 500 companies throughout the world. His Chicago based firm was the largest independent distributor of the acclaimed Crucial Conversations process in the United States.

Mike graduated from UMSL with a B.A. prior to locating in Chicago for his professional career.He also holds graduate degrees from Loyola University and Roosevelt University.

Returning home to St. Louis with his wife and two daughters Mike has been an UMSL Executive Fellow and volunteer at Loyola Academy for Boys.

With more than 30 years experience in public and independent education, Pat brings an enormous amount of expertise to the education and development of young children. Her personal belief in strong academics and strong character carry over into every aspect of a child’s education at Rossman.

A mother of eight, Pat became a teacher because education combines her two loves — a love of children and a love of learning. A Brooklyn, New York native, Pat moved to St. Louis at the age of 19. After graduating cum laude from Webster University, she attended graduate school at St. Louis University and taught for the Webster Groves School District and Community School before devoting 15 years to the students at MICDS. During her tenure she served as a sixth and seventh grade teacher, Assistant Head of Middle School and Director of Admission.

Shana joined the NSCS board in September 2023. Prior to joining NSCS, Shana served four years on The Young Friends Board of NSCS. Shana is a Certified Public Accountant at FORVIS where she specializes in taxation. Shana is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia with a master’s degree in accounting and certification in taxation.

Erin Braitberg-Baker is a board certified and licensed behavior analyst practicing in St. Louis. Missouri. Erin is the Clinical Director for Behavior Frontiers St. Louis, and is a graduate of Murray State University and Ball State University where she studied Applied Behavior Analysis, Sociology, Criminal Justice and Autism. Erin’s interests include organizational behavior management, technical writing, competency-based training, interdisciplinary collaboration, and cultural competency.

Katie Stout joined the North Side School Board in late 2024. Katie earned her B.A. In Special Education from Miami University in Oxford Ohio, with a special emphasis on Developmentally Disabled, Severely Emotionally Disturbed, and Learning Disabled students. She went on to teach elementary aged students in stand-alone programs in both the Cincinnati, Ohio and Durham, North Carolina public school districts. She has volunteered extensively, including as a substitute teacher, in the Ladue public school district, where her three children attended school.

School Reference Documents

Strategic Plan (2021-2024 version)
Family Handbook (2023-24 version)
School Policy Manual (2022 version)