Leadership Team

As Executive Director, Tom oversees the Senior Leadership Team and is responsible for the school overall, grades K-12. Before coming to Hyde Leadership Charter School, Tom served as Founding Head of School at the SEED Foundation in Washington, D.C. The SEED Foundation supports a network of urban, public boarding schools, including campuses in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Miami. Tom’s work at SEED included school start-up planning and educational program development, as well as technology for teaching, learning, and idea sharing across the SEED network. Before working at SEED, Tom helped found Keystone Academy, a K-12 school in Beijing, China, and worked for an educational technology start-up in California called StudySync. Over the course of his career, Tom has held many leadership and teaching positions, including Head of School, Associate Head of School, High School Principal, Director of College Counseling, English teacher, environmental science teacher, and math teacher. Tom brings to Hyde his passionate commitment to developing the unique potential of each student through progressive education, whole-child engagement, and family partnership.

As Chief Operating Officer, Stephen has responsibility for all non-instructional operations of the school and is a member of the Hyde Senior Leadership Team. Prior to joining Hyde Leadership Charter School, Stephen was Chief Operating Officer of TurtleBay Advisory Services LLC, a business advisory firm in New York City, which provided project management and business transformation expertise to the financial services industry. At TurtleBay, Stephen was the senior financial officer and oversaw human resources, vendor and contract management, and customer experience. Stephen is a skilled manager of financial operations and has held senior executive positions at both world-class banks and asset management firms, including The Capital Group Companies, Mellon Financial Corp., and Bankers Trust Co.

Stephen is dedicated to educating children and is especially passionate about providing all children with equal access to excellent schools. He is currently a Trustee at Manhattan Country School, a progressive, mission-based school in New York City founded by his parents over 50 years ago. Stephen is a graduate of Connecticut College, where he majored in government and English. He is a native New Yorker, where he currently lives with his wife and son.

Lex is in her fifth year as Middle School Director. She received an undergraduate degree from Middlebury College and two master’s degrees from both Pace University and Columbia University. Lex holds her master’s degrees in Education and a New York Principal Certification.

In addition, Lex has experience as a classroom teacher and has held other school leadership positions. She began her career in education as a Teach For America corps member, followed by years of experience as a teacher, dean, and school director. Lex joined the Hyde Senior Leadership Team in 2012.

Celia is in her seventh year as High School Director following three years as a Hyde classroom teacher. She participated in the Charter Center’s Principal Support Network and was awarded an Emerging Leader Fellowship for the 2009 – 2010 school year. During her time at Hyde, she has been involved in developing curriculum, chairing the social studies, science, and language departments, as well as many extracurricular activities. Some of these activities included developing and organizing the Dynamics of Difference Committee, student interview panels, and wilderness trips, as well as coaching the school track team.

Prior to joining Hyde, Celia worked as a teacher at The Lorge School and The Urban Assembly School of Business for Young Women. At each organization she took on a leadership role becoming a Director of School Culture and Dean, respectively. Additionally, while at Binghamton University, Celia was a co-founder of the local chapter of INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence. She has her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Philosophy from Binghamton University and was awarded the Clifford D. Clark Fellowship for work on her master’s degree. She received a second master’s degree in education with a concentration in adolescent social studies from Pace University. Celia was a 2005 Teach For America corps member.

Liz Springer started at Hyde in 2006 as a founding teacher and Special Education Coordinator before taking on additional leadership roles at the school, including Middle School Director and now Special Education Director. As the Special Education Director, she oversees Hyde’s Special Education program K-12. She is a fierce advocate for inclusive education and works closely with the Leadership Team to ensure all students have access to rigorous and individualized instruction and learning experiences.

Liz started teaching as a Special Education Teacher in LaPlace, Louisiana with the Teach For America 2002 Greater New Orleans corps, and she has taught in Brooklyn, Harlem, and the Bronx. She has worked with students with a range of disabilities in varied settings. Liz graduated from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 2002 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and received her Master of Science in Special Education from Queens College in 2009. In her spare time, Liz enjoys swimming, reading, drawing, hiking, and learning how to do new things.

Ms. Hunsinger joined Hyde Leadership Charter School as Library Media Specialist in 2009. Over the past nine years, Ms. Hunsinger built a school library, expanded literacy and technology opportunities for students, coached the Hyde Debate Team, led the NYC Junior Ambassador Program, and founded the Hyde Tech Team. In 2017, Ms. Hunsinger transitioned to become the school’s Director of Development and Communications.

Ms. Hunsinger serves as an advisor to the Bisila Bokoko African Literacy Project. She is a member of AASL and a member of the ALA International Relations Committee—Africa Subcommittee. She has written for  School Library Monthly, Knowledge Quest, and International Leads. She is also an executive committee member for the Day of Knowledge Conference in the Dominican Republic. Ms. Hunsinger has a BA in International Affairs from Lewis & Clark College. She was a recipient of the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program Scholarship and in 2013 she received her MA in Education and School Library and Information Technology from Mansfield University.

Ms. Moloughney joined Hyde Leadership Charter School as a K-8 Technology teacher in 2008 following an information technology career in higher education. After serving 3 years in the classroom, she was selected as an Emerging Leadership Fellow with the New York City Charter School Center for 2012-2013. This program, focused on leadership development by guiding leaders through rotations in school culture, community engagement, recruitment, accountability and school finance. After completing this program, Ms. Moloughney took on the role of Dean of School Life K-5, where she worked to ensure that the programs, activities, and day-to-day operations of the Elementary were aligned with Hyde’s mission. This included onboarding new teachers, leading staff professional development, teacher observations, and maintaining school culture through weekly school meetings,  a discovery group curriculum,  and special events.

In the fall of 2017, Ms. Moloughney began her tenth year at Hyde. She is a graduate of Pace University where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Literature and Communication and a Master of Science in Teaching as an Educational Technology Specialist.