photo by: Mike Yoder

Quail Run Elementary, 1130 Inverness Drive

The principal of Lawrence’s Quail Run Elementary School is leaving the school district to take a new job with his former employer.

The principal, Michael Koonce, intends to resign at the end of the school year, the district announced Thursday in a news release. Koonce, who is currently serving his second year as the school’s principal, has accepted an offer to become the director of administrative services for the Greenbush Resource Center in Lawrence.

His resignation will be effective June 30, 2020, pending Lawrence school board approval. The district plans to begin a search for a new principal immediately. Quail Run currently serves 480 students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

Prior to joining the district in 2018, Koonce served as Greenbush’s director of learning services for eight years and director for migrant education services for a year.

“While we will miss Dr. Koonce as a valued member of our leadership team, I am pleased that he will be using his expertise in service to improving public schools across Kansas,” Superintendent Anthony Lewis said in the news release.

photo by: Contributed photo

Michael Koonce

Citing the qualities of the Quail Run community, Koonce said accepting the new job was a difficult decision.

“I have been so fortunate to be around and learn from such a talented and committed team of educators and school staff who each want the best for our students,” Koonce said in the district’s news release. “Our school community’s engagement in all things Quail Run is simply unparalleled by comparison during my nearly 20 years in education. Our students are so fun to be around. They are honest, thoughtful, and truly care about one another and our school.”