May 2025 Newsletter
🌞 Sun Prairie High School 🌾
Summary
We continue to make progress on our path towards opening Sun Prairie High School in Lawrence. We remain on track to open in Fall of 2026. Here is a summary of the major milestones we have already completed and are currently working on.
As we work on further understanding our student base for the 2026 school year and beyond, members of the planning committee will be reaching out to families to understand interest and answer additional questions.
Our next meeting is Sunday May 11th, 10 am at the Lawrence Public Library, downstairs. If you are curious about our progress or want to join the efforts, please just show up. We welcome all levels of involvement. Our big projects continue to be fundraising, faculty search, location search, and more.
We would love to hear from you, you can reach out at admin@sunprairiehighschool.org or follow us at SunPrairieHighSchool.com.
✅ Completed
Built an online presence at SunPrairieHighSchool.com (SPHS)
Secured several recurring donations to SPHS
Founded initial school planning board
Created campus criteria and an ongoing search process
New: Update: We have a short list of properties we are evaluating
Secured 2 experienced advisors / mentors
Karl Johnson MA - Mountain Song Director of Pedagogy & Teacher Trainer Gradalis Institute
David Barham - Executive Director - Center for Anthroposophy (CfA) & Director - Waldorf High School Teacher Education Program (WHiSTEP)
Secured commitments from specialties teachers
Connected with leadership and families at City of Fountains (Waldorf inspired KC school)
New: Hosted an information night at City of Fountains
New: We completed our first teacher interviews and are nearing the first faculty hire for SPHS
This included a gathering with several students and families from Prairie Moon and interested homeschoolers.
🔄 In Progress
Actively interviewing teachers for primary subjects
Continuing to evaluate campus sites
Started the specialties planning committee to build a full specialties program
Registering SPHS as a 501(c)(3)
Expanding SPHS donation base and funding
🕒 Next Steps
Announce the location by Fall 2025
Announce teacher hires and introduce them to the community
Build strategic partnerships area community groups and schools
Host a gathering for interested families
FAQ
Q: How will Sun Prairie High School support athletics and activities?
A: There will be some cases where SPHS is uniquely positioned to provide the activity and others where using existing resources from the community works best.
For any sport or activity sponsored by the Kansas State High School Activities Association (kshsaa.org), students can participate at their local public high school.
That means a student could play on the soccer team or be part of the debate program at whichever public school they align to.
A simple process was standardized by KSHSAA a few years back and we have community members who have already gone through the process with their children. As a community, we can share the details on how to navigate the process.
We will evaluate interest from our student body and determine which areas we can/should support directly and where we should build partnerships with existing resources in the community.
Stay in Touch & Get Involved
Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans. That the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves, too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.
-William H. Murray