The Central Heights School District will have two new principals next year and both are familiar faces. First, at the middle school. Michelle Smith will take over the Principalship. Smith started teaching at Central Heights in 2011 as a Special Education teacher. She moved on to become an English teacher at the school and says she has loved every minute of it. Her husband is a 2001 graduate of the school and she has two children attending Central Heights schools. Smith is a member of many committees at Central Heights, helped launch many initiatives from Evening With the Arts to middle school interventions, and loves bringing fresh ideas and passion to whatever she does. She was the Central Heights Teacher of the Year and a Kansas Teacher of the Year Nominee in 2020. She believes that middle school is the absolute best school, and says she can’t wait to get started in her new role as the middle school principal!
The new principal at the Central Heights Elementary School is Hope Licktieg. She began her teaching career in Spring Hill, but has been a kindergarten and third grade teacher at Central Heights for the last eight years. She has two children who attend Central Heights. Mrs. Lickteig received the Kansas State House of Representatives District #5 Elementary Teacher of the Year in 2019, the Central Heights Teacher of the Year in 2019 and the Pittsburg State University College of Education Outstanding Educator Award in 2018.
