Atchison Public Schools seeks applicants for Atchison High principal role

Atchison High School’s next principal will walk into a job that reaches far beyond the office at 1500 W. Riley St. The school enrolled 419 students in 2024-2025, had a student-teacher ratio of 12.18 and counted 242 students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, making the role central to academics, attendance, discipline and family communication.

Atchison Public Schools said May 14 that it was accepting applications for the Atchison High School principal position for the 2026-2027 school year. The district directed applicants to contact Demarin Montgomery at Demarin.Montgomery@usd409.net for more information, and the job posting lists a June 15 deadline at 11:59 p.m. Central Time with a July 1 start date. For parents, staff and students, that public timeline gives the community a clear window into a leadership decision that will shape the coming school year before classes begin.

The posting shows the next principal will oversee more than just daily building management. The job description says the principal reports to the superintendent and supervises assistant principals, the athletic and activities director, and certified and classified staff. In a district with about 300 employees, four schools and more than 1,300 students across 52 square miles, that makes the high school principal one of USD 409’s most visible and influential positions.

The hiring comes at a time when Atchison High is already balancing technology-heavy instruction and college readiness work. The district says the school operates a 1:1 iPad program and allows students to earn college credit through Highland Community College. That means the next principal will inherit a campus that must keep up with classroom expectations, device use and postsecondary opportunities while still meeting the everyday needs of a large, diverse student body.

The school’s staff page currently lists LaTisha Williams as principal and Blaine Clardy as associate principal, so the search lands in the middle of an existing leadership structure rather than as a routine vacancy with no context. USD 409 also identifies Nichole Honeywell as the district coordinator for Section 504, ADA, Title VI, Title VIII and Title IX inquiries, underscoring that the leadership team is tied closely to student rights and compliance as well as instruction. The district’s early, public hiring push suggests the next principal will be expected to step in quickly and help set the tone for Atchison High before the next academic year opens.