After four decades in the service to students, Dr. Lora Hopper is retiring from public education.
The principal of York Elementary served students and teachers in Springfield Public Schools for 28 years. She served as Title I Coordinator, Portland Elementary principal and more. For the past nine, she’s led York Elementary School as its principal, helping to steer the northwest school to outstanding academic gains in reading and math.
But it’s her approach to serving the entire community that has made her a leader in the York neighborhood. As a leader and educator, she implemented parent-focused programming, engaging families to thrive within their school community. Within Springfield, she advocated for early childhood expansion as part of Proposition S, a bond proposal that passed in 2019. That bond funded an early childhood mini center inside the new Williams Elementary School, providing access to high-quality preschool for northwest Springfield families.
And in 2021, Lora Hopper shared her passion for her school community at a ground-breaking ceremony for a new York Elementary School.
“For the past 110 years, York has stood right here on this plot of land,” said Hopper. “York was petitioned in 1911 by a Civil War veteran living in this community, who was concerned about educating young people and preparing them for their future. That continues to be our mission today.”
In January 2023, the new $20 million York Elementary will open as an innovative learning facility and community hub for its neighborhood. The new building will have a new leader, but Dr. Hopper won’t ever stop advocating for children, she says.
“I have so loved coming to school each morning with the desire to make a difference in the lives of SPS students, SPS staff and the SPS community,” she wrote in her retirement letter this spring. “I’m so grateful for the opportunity to do what I love for a lifetime.”
Dr. Hopper is a 1969 graduate of Central High School. She began her career as a reading teacher in nearby Sparta, Missouri, then moved to Seymour, teaching and leading within the district for ten years. In 1995, she began her career at SPS. Over the course of her 40-year career, Dr. Hopper estimates she served nearly 40,000 students in Southwest Missouri.