Morgan Nance is the principal of Sowers Alternative High School, a special day school where students have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) and many have a behavior intervention plan. The school provides a high level of structure with the goal of having students transition back to their base school.

Nance started her teaching career as a Spanish teacher at Trinity Catholic High School in Hutchinson.

“I dropped marching band when I was in high school and was placed in a Spanish class, which was my least favorite class,” Nance said. “I ended up loving it and decided to become a Spanish teacher, so sometimes those schedule changes can be a good thing.”

She eventually joined the Sedgwick County Special Education Cooperative, where she worked as an interrelated middle school English teacher and an IEP manager. It was during her time at the cooperative that she got her master’s degree in special education. In 2013, she began teaching English to special education students at South High School, where she worked for eight years, becoming the department chair. She was encouraged to get her building leadership licensure by her principal.

She became an assistant principal at Southeast High School, where she served for a year and a half. She then became the principal at Sowers two years ago.

“There are so many things I love about my job, but I think my favorite thing is that, because of our size, I am able to greet and speak with every student, every single day,” Nance said. “We’re able to provide a high level of individualized support to help our students grow and become successful.”