Lee’s Summit North leader chosen as Missouri Principal of the Year

Lee’s Summit North High School Principal Jeff Meisenheimer is the 2018 Missouri High School Principal of the Year, becoming the fourth Lee’s Summit School District administrator to earn the award since 2000.

Two other Lee’s Summit educators have been named Middle School Principal of the Year during that span.

This year’s high school award, given by the Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals, will be presented to Meisenheimer on March 26 during the group’s spring conference.

Tim Collins, assistant principal at Lee’s Summit North, nominated Meisenheimer during the previous school year.

“We have three new assistant principals this year, and he coaches and supports them unconditionally,” Collins said. “The staff responds well to his leadership style and he is constantly pushing them to improve as educators.”

Meisenheimer, who has been North’s principal for five years, previously served as an assistant principal at Lee’s Summit and Ruskin high schools.

He was named the Missouri Assistant Principal of the Year in 2010 and was among three finalists for National Assistant Principal of the Year.

Meisenheimer, who lives in Lee’s Summit, earned his bachelor’s degree in business education from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He received master’s and specialist degrees, both in educational administration, from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and earned his executive doctor of education from St. Louis University.

The state award recognizes Meisenheimer’s impact in the areas of collaborative leadership; curriculum, instruction and assessment; and personalization of the learning environment. Meisenheimer now will represent Missouri in the 2018 National Principal of the Year programs.

Previous Missouri High School Principal of the Year winners from the Lee’s Summit R-7 School District include Stan Elliott (Lee’s Summit North, 2002), John Faulkenberry (Lee’s Summit, 2009) and David Sharp (Lee’s Summit West, 2016).

Middle School Principal of the Year winners in recent years from Lee’s Summit are Don Andrews (Summit Lakes, 2006) and Sherri Lewis (Bernard Campbell, 2017).

Compiled by Elaine Adams, Special to the Journal, and Tod Palmer, editor of the Journal

This story was originally published January 19, 2018 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Lee’s Summit North leader chosen as Missouri Principal of the Year."