A new principal is swooping in to lead the Falcons. Current assistant principal Barry Crilley, Ed.D., will be the new head principal for the 26-27 school year, and he says he is ready to embrace both the challenges and opportunities that come with leading the school.
After nine years at the school, principal Larry Smith, Ed.D., will be stepping away from his role as head principal.
For Crilley, becoming head principal is a chance to connect with more students, support more programs and leave a larger impact on the school he has already helped lead. Before becoming assistant principal, Crilley worked in education as a special education teacher at Lee’s Summit North High School. He earned his undergrad from Missouri State University and has spent 19 years working in education overall.
“I look forward to learning a new perspective versus being an assistant principal and really getting to interact with more departments and have a greater reach than I did as assistant principal,” Crilley said. “I’m excited to engage with students in different ways that I don’t necessarily get to with my current duties. So being more involved in things that make Staley great — National Honor Society to theater and all those things.”
While stepping into a new leadership role comes with uncertainty, Crilley said growth often comes from stepping outside of what feels comfortable.
“You know it, it’s obviously something new,” Crilley said. “And with something new comes a level of discomfort, but I feel that what I’ve always told people is that from discomfort comes growth. So, I’m really excited to see what I can do and to go through the process and to grow and learn.”
As he prepares to lead the school, Crilley said one philosophy continues to guide his leadership.
“Never do things because that’s the way they’ve been done,” Crilley said. “Do it because it’s the best way to do things.”
He believes leadership means balancing tradition and new ideas based on what will create the strongest outcomes for students and staff.
“I believe in trying to be objective and stepping back and looking at, ‘How can we make decisions that aren’t just rooted strictly in tradition?'” Crilley said. “Making decisions based on, ‘How can we create the best outcomes for people?’ And not just doing it because that’s the way we’ve done things all the time.”
Although Crilley plans to bring fresh ideas to the position, he says his focus remains on building on the already established foundation at the school.
“Staley High School is already a great high school,” Crilley said. “I want to maintain that standard and then find some areas where we can grow, become even better — to leverage the strengths from me personally, the administrative team and then the teaching staff to just make sure that we’re providing rigorous classroom instruction that sets kids up to be successful post-secondary.”
As he prepares to step into his new role, Crilley said his focus is creating an environment where every student feels supported and prepared for whatever comes next.
