Mark Kehoe Mark Kehoe is excited about returning to Lampasas and said he is thrilled to be the first principal at the new Lampasas High School campus.

Familiar to local residents because of his earlier stints as a teacher, football coach, athletic director and assistant principal, Kehoe is ready for the challenges that lie ahead with his first principal post on a brand-new campus.

But taking the Lampasas job also presents personal challenges.

Kehoe's wife, Kara, who was accepted into a physician assistant program, is set to begin a year of clinical rotations in August in Abilene, and the couple will be living apart during that time. Their son, Marcus, who will be a freshman in the fall, is living in Lampasas with his father.

"We thought it would be easier for Marcus to be in familiar territory rather than to have to move to a new community again, especially for his first year of high school," said the new LHS principal.

Most recently, Kehoe was the principal for the senior class at Robert E. Lee High School in Midland, a Class 5A school that graduated about 600 students this spring.

His first year at Lampasas ISD was in 1997, when he came aboard as an assistant football coach and social studies teacher at LHS. In 1998, Kehoe taught at the middle school and coached at the high school.

In spring 2000, he was hired as athletic director and head football coach. Kehoe was head football coach for six seasons and athletic director for seven years.

In the 2007-08 term, he was named assistant principal at LHS. Gone were the coaching days, and as much as Kehoe enjoyed them, he said he was ready for the challenge of a new position in administration.

At that point Mrs. Kehoe, who also taught at LHS, decided to go back to school, and she was accepted into Texas Tech's physician assistant program in Midland.

"It was a family decision for us to leave Lampasas," Kehoe said. "I needed to support my wife and what she wanted to do, and she wanted to go to school."

Though the Abilene-Lampasas arrangement will be tough on the family, Kehoe said they made a good decision. "And this is the only job we would have considered doing this for."

The new principal said he is thankful for the opportunity to return to Lampasas.

"This is home," he said. "I am excited to be a part of the community and the school district again. I never thought that opportunity would come along.

"This was a difficult decision for our family but at the same time, after looking at our situation, we knew this is where we wanted to be. We'll make it work."

And the excitement of a new school is making the transition easier, Kehoe said. "This is a positive thing for our kids, for the faculty and for our community.

"The new school is awesome. I never thought we would have something like that here, and to see it is actually pretty spectacular."

Kehoe said he appreciates the confidence the board of trustees and Superintendent Randall Hoyer have placed in him to get the job done.

"We have a lot of work to do. I would like to see our TAKS scores increase, and I would like to see us continue to incorporate more technology into our classrooms. Moving into a new school that gives us so much advanced technology will help us fulfill that."

Another hot issue, Kehoe said, is the LISD dress code. "There is a dress code the district has in place, and my job is to make sure it's enforced. If it's not enforced -- regardless of what it is -- it's not going to be successful."

Kehoe said discipline and leadership are important. "A leader must lead by example."

The high school principal said he looks forward to spending time in the classroom with teachers and students. "We have so many excellent teachers, and I am excited about working with them."

As for classes, Kehoe believes the district offers a good variety for its size.

"Our kids have a chance to become exposed to a lot of variety and choices," he said. "There are some trends with career and technology that I would like to see if funding were to become available, but we have incorporated some new classes over the past few years that are very successful."

As the first day of the new school year creeps closer, Kehoe said the excitement continues to build. "The beginning of a school year is when we need to capture the excitement of a new school and spread it from our teachers to our students and into our community. From day one that's what we need to do. We have to spread the excitement."

As for budgeting issues, the principal said Lampasas has always had to watch its money. "That's really nothing new. Ever since I have been here, the LISD has struggled financially, just as most small school districts have. But what we have had, we have made work, and I don't anticipate it will be any different this year. We have always taken care of our kids."

Kehoe said he plans to be in Lampasas for a while. "I didn't split up my family and come here with the intention of leaving soon. This is our home. We love it here."

He also praised the new superintendent.

"I think he will be really good for Lampasas and for our school district. I am excited to have the opportunity to work with him.

"He has high expectations for our schools, and so do I.

"I am so glad to be back."