A Seckman High School teacher and graduate of the school will be in a leadership role this school year.
Courtney Tiné has been named an assistant principal at the Imperial high school. She has taught social studies at Seckman High for the last eight years, and she graduated from the school in 2007.
“It has been very interesting to watch it grow and change over the last almost 20 years,” said Tiné, 37, of Eureka. “It has been an interesting experience for sure coming from that perspective.”
Tiné is stepping into the assistant principal position that was vacated by Chelsea Boyd, who left the Fox C-6 School District to become the director of assessment, federal programs and future readiness for the Affton School District.
Tiné will be paid $109,017 as an assistant principal during the 2026-2027 school year. She was paid $57,812 as a teacher last school year. Boyd was scheduled to be paid a salary of $124,242 as an assistant principal before leaving Fox C-6 for Affton.
Nathan Burch, Fox C-6 assistant superintendent of human resources, said 25 people applied for the Seckman High assistant principal position, and the district interviewed five candidates.
“Mrs. Tiné was selected because of her strong understanding of the school community and building culture, combined with a student-centered and staff-centered approach to leadership,” Burch said. “She brings a valuable current classroom perspective that will help guide decision-making and support both students and teachers.
“Throughout the interview process, she demonstrated strong communication skills, empathy, thoughtful decision-making and the ability to build positive relationships and trust with staff.”
Tiné has a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Missouri Baptist University and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Southeast Missouri State University.
She said while earning her master’s degree, Seckman High assistant principal Tracy LaRose was her mentor.
Tiné said LaRose showed her how the administrative team operates and how to manage the assistant principal duties.
“She has taught me how to keep all of the different things we have to do daily organized,” Tiné said. “She also builds really good relationships with the students. Like me, she was in the classroom a few years ago, and she is now the principal for kids she had in the classroom. I got to watch her and see how those relationships change from teacher to administrator.”
Tiné said she is looking forward to helping students progress beyond the subject she has taught at Seckman High since 2018. She also said she believes the relationships she formed with students as a teacher will help her transition more easily into the assistant principal role.
“I am very lucky because I know already about half of our student body because I had them in my classroom,” she said. “I will have new students, and I will need to get to know and form relationships with them, but I am coming into the role with some of those relationships prebuilt.
“I think the focus, whether you are in the classroom or an administrator, is all about building relationships, getting to know them and doing what is best for your students.”
Tiné said she will oversee the senior class this school year.
“I am excited to help my seniors get through this final year of high school,” she said. “I have known most of them since they were freshmen, because I primarily taught freshmen.
“It is exciting to see how they have grown in the last three years and help them to graduate and finish out their time here.”
Tiné said two areas she plans to focus on this school year are student support and teacher recognition.
“I would like to spread a little bit of joy among the staff and help keep them engaged, help keep them excited to come here every day,” she said. “That is the same thing we want to do for our students. I think coming from being a teacher I have that inside view of what I feel we need and improvements we would like to see from a staff perspective.
“Hopefully, I can contribute positively to that this year.”
Tiné said she is excited to focus on more than how students are progressing and succeeding in social studies.
“In your classroom, you are more singularly focused and you want to help that student succeed,” she said. “In my case, it was specifically looking at the area of social studies.
“In an administrative position, you are more focused on the whole student and all of the different components that go into their success and eventual graduation. I am excited to be part of the big picture.”