It’s not easy to get Sobrato High School Principal Rich Knapp to
talk about himself, because he would much rather talk about his
students, his staff, the school community.
Morgan Hill – It’s not easy to get Sobrato High School Principal Rich Knapp to talk about himself, because he would much rather talk about his students, his staff, the school community.
But the former Live Oak High School principal is retiring and he has plenty to say about the school he and 22 teachers opened three years ago.
Knapp, 60, who has worked in the Morgan Hill Unified School District for 10 years, was a science teacher before venturing into administration, and is quick to say that some of the most rewarding times in his career were in the classroom. But as an administrator at Live Oak then at Sobrato, he’s guided a staff in the direction he believes will most benefit students.
“The opportunity to open Sobrato was a dream for me,” he said. “The opportunity, with my excellent staff, to create a culture and climate that is inclusive and supportive of students, with high expectations for kids, this has been wonderful.”
Graduating senior Emily Tewes has been at Sobrato since it opened, in August of 2004, with just a freshman and sophomore class. She has been active in campus life, putting to rest the notion tossed around by some in the community that the students would falter, with no upperclassmen to act as role models.
“As a student, I can truly respect him for all he’s done for us,” she said. “Building the school, going ahead with all his plans despite the negative attitudes of some in the community about it. That didn’t stop him from working hard, making sure that we as students had the kind of experience that we wouldn’t have gotten at any other high school. He was with us every step of the way, making sure that we could get everything we wanted out of our high school experience.”
MHUSD School Board President Peter Mandel pointed out that the educational experiences of his students is a priority to Knapp.
“It’s rare for a community to open a new high school; it is rarer still for a community to have someone like Rich Knapp to guide such a complex project to a very successful completion, while continuing to show the leadership in educational excellence and caring for the children of the school that he has shown throughout his career,” he said. “We have been fortunate to have Rich in our educational community.”
The school was built with money from a bond passed by voters within MHUSD in 1999, which provided for the renovation of Live Oak and building Sobrato and a new elementary school, Barrett Elementary.
Controversy in the community ranged from the cost of the school, the need for the school, whether there would be enough students to fill a new school, plans for the school that some called “clustering” of students and other issues.
This year’s Class of 2007 were sophomores when the school opened in 2004, and many of them had spent their freshman year at either Martin Murphy Middle School or Britton Middle School. For nearly 25 years, the middle schools housed grades 7 to 9, while Live Oak served grades 10 to 12.
“The changes in the school have been evolutionary,” Knapp said. “When I think back to that first year, I forget that the air conditioners didn’t work, I forget that all of the furniture wasn’t in the classrooms. That’s one of the things I was saying when I talked to our seniors the other day, that many times, we forget where we’ve been, what we’ve been through, because we get caught up in where we’re going.”
Despite the facility problems, Knapp said, the first year of Sobrato will occupy a special place in his memories and in his heart.
“That first year was so special, the campus had a great feeling to it,” he said. “The kids, the staff, the administrators, we all knew we were in this together, and it had an everyone-knew-everyone feeling. We were a start-up company.”
Parent Lucinda Lawson’s daughter, Kathleen, was a freshman when the school opened, and she contacted him because she wanted to offer her help with the school’s Web site, believing it’s important for the information to be up to date and useful to parents, students and others. She has been involved as a volunteer from the beginning.
“I have been very impressed with his knowledge, with his fairness and equity to everybody, to parents and to students,” she said. “He is very supportive, and he is very dedicated. You see him everywhere, there’s not an event you can go to that you don’t see his smiling face. He is also very accessible, he epitomizes the open door policy.”
Now the door may be opening for Knapp to pursue other opportunities. He said he has made no retirement plans yet, but does have some ideas.
“I would love to work with new principals, help them make that transition,” he said. “I would also enjoy staff development … But right now, I’m not focusing on what I’ll do later. Right now, I’m enjoying what’s going on, our first graduating class.”
Parents, faculty, staff and even students are lamenting that he is leaving, but Knapp said he knows the time is right for his graceful exit.
“I worked in parks and recreation as a park leader in college, and there was a supervisor who used to tell me, cut it at the high point,” Knapp said. “When the kids’ activity is at the best point, the kids are having the most fun, are the most satisfied, then it’s time to stop. And I guess that’s what you could say I’m doing. It’s the perfect time for me to leave.”
