Maur Hill-Mount Academy names new principal, returns former faculty member

Maur Hill-Mount Academy is handing its principal’s office to Ken Rolling on July 7, with former faculty member John Newman returning as associate principal, a move that will shape what Atchison families see next year in classrooms, hallways and admissions conversations.

The change is bigger than a personnel swap. Dr. Christi Adams will return to Benedictine College’s School of Education at the end of the school year, and the academy is also working under a new president, John Dahlstrand, who took office April 27. That means Maur Hill-Mount enters the 2026-27 year with new leadership at the top and a fresh administrative team guiding a school that reported 166 students in recent public data.

Board Chairman Dan Pombo said Rolling was chosen after a nationwide search that focused on academic results while preserving the school’s Catholic mission in the Benedictine tradition. For parents, that points to continuity in the academy’s identity, but also a reset in how the school may present itself on enrollment, college-prep rigor and student culture.

Rolling brings both Catholic-school leadership and Benedictine roots to the job. He founded and served as headmaster of Oxrose Academy, an online school for grades 7 through 12, and most recently was principal of Saint Ann Catholic School in Decatur, Alabama. His academic background ties back to Atchison as well: he holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Benedictine College and a master’s degree in classics from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, and he is pursuing a Doctor of Education degree at Christendom College.

That background matters at Maur Hill-Mount, which describes itself as a co-ed, college-preparatory high school modeled on a college campus atmosphere. The school says its Benedictine heritage traces to monks arriving in Kansas in 1857 and sisters arriving in 1863. Maur Hill Prep School, founded in 1919, and Mount St. Scholastica Academy, founded in 1863, merged in 2003 to form today’s academy, which educates in the Benedictine tradition of prayer, work and love of learning.

Newman’s return gives the academy another familiar name. He had been teaching at St. James Academy in Lenexa since 2024 before coming back to Maur Hill-Mount as associate principal, and the school said he is ready to help carry out a shared academic vision for students.

For Atchison families, the practical question is whether the leadership change brings continuity or a sharper push. The answer appears to be both: the school is keeping its Benedictine identity intact while bringing in leaders with experience in college-prep, Catholic education and school building, all as it prepares to guide a small student body through a new chapter.