According to a release from Board Chairman Dan Pombo, Ken Rolling has been hired as Principal, effective July 7. The release also says former faculty member John Newman is returning to the school as Associate Principal.
The release notes that Rolling founded and served as headmaster of Oxrose Academy, an online school for grades 7 through 12, and most recently served as Principal of Saint Ann Catholic School in Decatur, Alabama. He holds a master’s degree in Classics from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Benedictine College in Atchison, and is pursuing a Doctor of Education degree at Christendom College. Expounding on his Benedictine College background in the release, Rolling says he is "pleased to reconnect with the Atchison Benedictine community," adding that throughout the years, the thought has persisted that if I ever have the chance to return here, I had to do it," concluding by saying he is "so pleased to have this opportunity."
Rolling was selected following a nationwide search, with a focus on academic outcomes while maintaining what the release calls the school’s Catholic mission in the Benedictine tradition. Pombo, in the release, says he "can’t imagine a better leader to ensure that an education at Maur Hill-Mount Academy positions students for success in college and in life.”
Rolling will succeed Dr. Christi Adams, who plans to return to her leadership role in the School of Education at Benedictine College at the end of the current school year.
Newman, for his part is "excited to return to MH-MA," and looks forward to working with Rolling in the joint goal of carrying out what he calls in the release "a shared academic vision," for "an amazing opportunity to craft a singular educational experience for all [of the school's students]."
He returns to the school in the role of associate principal after holding a teaching position at St. James Academy, in Lenexa, since 2024.
