Coach Hopkins Joins KHS Leadership

Kearney School District has announced that Amanda Hopkins will join the leadership team at Kearney High School as an Assistant Principal starting in the 2024-2025 academic year.

Ms. Hopkins has been a Special Education teacher in Kearney School District for three years; before that, she taught first graders for 13 years. She has also served as a Summer School Administrative Intern since 2016.

“I am very excited to get started as an Assistant Principal at Kearney High School,” Hopkins said. “Working in administration has been a goal of mine after serving on various committees and having the opportunity to serve as the summer school administrative intern.”

Current high school Assistant Principal Sandy Henshaw announced recently that she will be retiring at the end of this semester after five years. Hopkins will be filling that position, which includes collaborating with Assistant Principal Jeremy Hart and supporting Principal Andy Gustafson.

“KHS is excited to welcome Amanda Hopkins to the building’s administration team,” Dr. Gustafson said. “She has had many different experiences in education and in leadership roles within the district to help her transition to her new position. One of Amanda’s many strengths is building lasting relationships with students, parents, staff, and patrons and we are very excited to have her at KHS.”

Hopkins has coached soccer for a decade at Kearney High School and was an assistant athletic director for the fall 2023 season. That experience helped solidify her decision to seek the assistant principal job when it opened.

“While the majority of my teaching career has been at the elementary level, this position couldn’t be a better fit as I’ve coached high school soccer for many years,” Hopkins said. “I have enjoyed working with this age group. Having the opportunity to continue to work with high schoolers in a different capacity is exciting, and I look forward to joining such a strong staff at KHS.”

Hopkins earned a bachelor’s degree in Elementary and Cross-Categorical Education from Missouri Valley College, plus a master’s degree in Administration and a specialist degree from William Woods University. Before coming to KSD, she taught fifth graders in Moberly and third graders in Cameron.

KPGZ News - Brian Watts contributed to this story