Psyched for Associate Principal: As Jeff Storey is retiring, East is hiring Emily Demo to replace him

Administrator Emily Demo was hired on Feb. 14 as the new Associate Principal for the 2022-23 school year in place of Jeff Storey, who is retiring after working for 38 years within the Shawnee Mission School district.

Demo graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and an education specialist graduate degree in school psychology — her administrative certification is from Pittsburg State University. Demo is currently serving as the District Coordinator of Student Support Services for the Blue Valley School District.

She decided to apply for the associate principal position after Principal Jason Peres was hired as principal, who she worked with for four years at Blue Valley Southwest, where she was the school psychologist.

“I knew about the position because I’ve been following [Peres’] journey into being the principal at East,” Demo said. “As I’ve become an administrator myself, I’ve been looking for different opportunities.”

Another reason Demo is excited to work at East is because she lives in the neighborhood. The Lancer Day parade is something that Demo specifically looks forward to participating in, as she lives near its route. 

“It’s my home community,” Demo said. “The community, traditions and just everything I’ve heard about East is so outstanding. I’m excited to become a part of that.”

Demo’s number one goal as associate principal is to form relationships with students and better get to know the East community better. She hopes students know that her door is always open.

“I want people to seek me out,” Demo said.

Storey was planning on retiring last year but decided to stay just one more year because he wasn’t quite ready to leave. Storey has previously taught Latin classes and was the librarian at Indian Hills Middle School for nine years. Storey advises Demo to get to know the students she is working with.

“My advice [for the next associate principal] is to get to know the kids as early as possible and learn how we do things at Shawnee Mission East, yet bring your own ideas to the table because we should continue learning and evolving,” Storey said.

Demo will be taking over his responsibilities which include working with the special education and world language programs at East, as well as overseeing curriculum and testing.

“I think my experience supporting students through a little bit of a different lens because of my training and experience as a psychologist will be beneficial to me,” Demo said. “I try to consider the whole student, not only their academic needs but social, emotional and behavioral [needs].”

Peres remembers working with Demo in the past and notes that she is “a great colleague.” He thinks that Demo cares deeply about her students and is excited to see the impact she’ll make at East.

“She’s student-centered and has knowledge and expertise in student support and intervention,” Peres said.

There will be a staff meet and greet with Demo before the start of next school year. In the meantime, all of the typical Associate Principal duties will continue to get done and students shouldn’t notice a huge change, according to Peres.

“We try to have as much continuity for students in our school at all times,” Peres said.

While learning new names and faces next year, Demo urges students to introduce themselves to her.

“I want to hear about exciting things going on for people, hard things going on for people and everything in between.” Demo said. “I’m a very outgoing person, so people can expect me to say hi to them in the hallway.”