District announces new principal of Sunset Hill Elementary School, pending board approval

Jeremy Philipp

Superintendent Kyle Hayden this week announced the selection of Jeremy Philipp, a New Mexico-based administrator and former teacher with ties to Kansas, as the new principal of Sunset Hill Elementary School.

Philipp succeeds Darcy Kraus, who will serve as the district’s director of elementary school support starting this summer after three years at Sunset Hill. Philipp’s hiring is effective July 1, pending school board approval.

“Jeremy is a reflective, collaborative and progressive-minded leader, who is focused on working with others to improve student learning and continue his own professional development and that of his team,” Hayden said in a news release.

Philipp will replace the district’s first pick, Andrea “Andi” Stipe, in the principal role. Stipe, a longtime school administrator in Kansas City, Kan., declined the job offer last week a little more than a day after the district announced her tentative hiring.

Now completing his second year as principal of New Mexico’s Nina Otero Community School, which serves students in pre-K through eighth grades in Santa Fe, Philipp returns to Kansas after spending a decade in New Mexico. Before taking on his current role, Philipp previously served as an assistant principal, science literacy instructional coach and fifth-grade teacher for a total of six years at Nina Otero, as well as working as an educational specialist at an environmental education center in New Mexico for two years. He previously taught fifth grade at the private Topeka Collegiate School in Topeka before moving to New Mexico.

According to the district’s news release, Philipp holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas, a master’s degree from the University of Colorado Denver, and an educational specialist’s degree from the University of New Mexico.

“Lawrence Public Schools’ vision to tailor technology to personalize education is a passion of mine,” Philipp said in the news release. “Sunset Hill Elementary has a distinct energy and enthusiasm for learning that I share. I look forward to building relationships with the students, parents, and staff, and supporting the clear tradition of success at Sunset Hill Elementary.”

Sunset Hill Elementary School currently serves 350 students in kindergarten through fifth grade.