Laura Millkamp, Director

Laura has a passion for children and families as she has spent the last 12 years in St. Louis working in public education. Starting as a special education teacher in the St. Louis Public Schools through Teach for America, Laura learned in this role just how important individualized instruction is to the success of her students. It was in this role that she worked to build lasting relationships with her students and families and continues to enjoy watching her former students lead successful lives and careers. Nothing brings her more joy than connecting and catching up with her former students!
 
In 2010, Laura joined the Youth Learning Center (YLC), a non-profit after school and summer program in St. Louis City, as its Program Director. During her time at YLC, she focused on bringing access to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) programming to students in the center. Laura enjoyed overseeing the creation of classes such as video game design, animation, and robotics to children as young as five. Watching budding artists explain their final animation during a YLC Film Festival was an experience she will never forget.
 
Most recently, Laura was the founding Director of Regional Operations at KIPP St. Louis, a public charter school network in St. Louis City. She has enjoyed being able to focus on the business side of running a public school system while still being able to connect with the scholars and families at all five KIPP St. Louis Public Schools. It was there that she managed operations teams and school nurses at the five different campuses. While at KIPP, Laura enjoyed supporting the student services team which included school social workers, nurses, and special educators.

As a lifelong learner, Laura holds her bachelor’s degree in marketing, a master’s degree in special education, and an education specialist degree in education leadership. She looks forward to continuing to learn from the fantastic teachers and leaders at University City Children’s Center who are experts in early childhood learning.
 
Laura is also the proud wife of Joel and parent to Charlotte, 9, and Max, 5. They keep her busy running from soccer practice to playdates on the weekends. In her downtime, she enjoys playing tennis, hosting BBQs with friends, and exploring the many free activities that St. Louis has to offer.