photo by: Courtesy Lawrence school district

Amy McAnarney

An associate principal at Free State High School will take over leadership of the school when its current principal, Myron Graber, retires in June, the school district announced Monday in a news release.

The associate principal, Amy McAnarney, will become principal on July 1, pending school board approval.

McAnarney, who joined the Lawrence district in 2015, is in her seventh year as an administrator at Free State. She previously served as an associate and assistant high school principal for eight years and an intermediate principal for six years in Emporia and an assistant principal for a year in Gardner. McAnarney also taught English in Emporia and Holton for eight years. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Fort Hays State University and a master’s degree at Emporia State University.

“During my seven years at Free State, I have come to care deeply for our school community, and I am honored to serve as its next principal. I have a tremendous amount of pride in our talented students, hard-working staff, and exceptional programs,” McAnarney said in the release.

Superintendent Anthony Lewis described McAnarney as “a relationship-builder and a student-focused instructional leader” and said she had been “instrumental in the school community’s planning around redesign and will continue to lead that process.”

He was referring to the Apollo phase of the Kansans Can! School Redesign Project, which Free State’s faculty voted in 2019 to apply for. The Kansas State Department of Education approved the school’s plan, and Free State has launched “efforts to systemically redesign the way education looks and how the school facilitates connections for students to prepare them for success in the next stage of their lives.”

Graber, whom McAnarney is slated to replace, has been principal of Free State for seven years and has worked in public education for 47 years.

The district will evaluate the associate principal position along with other staffing vacancies as part of its budget planning process, it said in the release.