Kayleigh Colombero is the Superintendent of Étoile Academy Charter School. She took part in the 2016 Building Excellent Schools Fellowship, a rigorous, yearlong, comprehensive training program in urban charter school creation and leadership.

Growing up in a financially unstable home, Kayleigh experienced many personal challenges on her path to college. Luckily, Kayleigh had a few mentors that pushed her to succeed in the face of much adversity. She set her sights on Smith College, an elite private college, which she eventually attended on a scholarship.

Kayleigh spent eight years as a middle school and high school teacher, an instructional coach, a department chair, a team leader, and as the Executive Director of a youth-development nonprofit before becoming a school leader.

In 2016, Kayleigh founded Étoile Academy Charter School. They opened with just seventy-five fifth grade students in 2018. Today, the network has two campuses in southwest Houston and serves over 800 students. She is in her seventh year of leading Étoile Academy and has loved seeing it grow and improve. Kayleigh also serves as the Academic Achievement Chair for the board of Compass Rose Public Schools. She enjoys supporting this strong, fast growing network of schools in San Antonio and Austin. In her free time, she spends time with her husband and two young kids and enjoys being outside.