Effective leadership preparation includes meaningful, experiential opportunities. This article details an effort to provide these opportunities through a school-university partnership. Through involvement in a semester-long action research project, a cohort of teacher leaders increased academic growth for selected students at their middle school while developing their own leadership skills. The focus of this partnership work was an action research project aimed at strengthening student-teacher relationships as a lever for improving student academic outcomes. The partnership provided a vehicle to build the capacity of aspiring leaders in the district and to improve the university's educational leadership preparation program.