It is not uncommon for students to feel Coppell Middle School East Principal Laura Springer’s warm and upbeat energy, see her grin ear-to-ear while recalling each and every one of her students’ names as they reach in for a hug in the hallways.

Next year, it will be a norm.

Springer is Coppell High School’s new 2019-20 principal.

Her arrival addressed in a district-wide announcement by Coppell ISD Superintendent Brad Hunt on April 22, Springer has already made herself feel at home after spending more than two decades at the high school as a head coach, teacher and administrator.

“It’s just like coming back to something I’m familiar with, but also something I just want to invest so much of myself in to make sure this place is just the greatest place it can be,” Springer said.

Springer, who has spent 12 years away from CHS at CMS East, is excited to return on campus. Despite the time away, Springer plans to implement what she is best known for.

“Number one is, for me is relationships. It’s making sure I have great relationships with our students, with our teachers, with our parents in the community. And making sure CHS is a place where we make people feel welcome and cared about,” Springer said.

Springer’s new role is followed after the departure of now CISD assistant athletic director Nicole Jund as principal for two years.

“I know that taking on this new position, I can feel confident I’m leaving the campus in a good position, and I’m excited about where they are headed in the future,” Jund said. “You knew in the end, we were headed in the right direction. We’ve changed the schedule twice. We worked through that. There’s some really good work has been done. I feel like the campus as a whole is on its feet and headed in the right direction.”

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While hiring Springer and Jund, CISD administration considered their expressed interest in the school, extensive background and personal experience, among other things.

“As we were making the move with Dr. Jund, we were thinking about who would be great in the role of the high school, [and] Laura Springer’s name came to mind again, because she loves Coppell, she knows the community,” CISD assistant superintendent for administrative services Kristen Streeter said. “She’ll have more than 3,000 kids and families who she’ll get to work with and impact, so we just saw that both of those moves is very positive for everybody.”

Though Springer’s role as principal came as a joy to many at the high school, members of CMS East are sad to see her departure after 11 years. Despite this sadness, Springer is confident in the leadership she is leaving behind, specifically CMS East assistant principal Steve Glover, who will take over as principal of the middle school.

“I’m sure there’s a lot of crying going on and some of our parents were not quite happy with me,” Springer said. “They were like, ‘Why are you leaving? Why are you going’ But we need to realize it. A school is not just a principal, a school is the team you put together. It is the support staff you have. It is all the way from your custodians to cafeteria workers to everybody; [those are] the things that make a school what it is and what’s great. You can’t focus on one person.”

Though the question of exact policy changes remain unclear for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year, Springer is keen on addressing the underlying issues students within the district are facing in regards to academics, drug usage and integrity.

“Do you ever eradicate every problem in a school? No. But I want to narrow those problems down to a point where when people come here, and when they leave, they say ‘Man, that is a fantastic high school for kids’. And for me, policy changes to make sure we have processes in place to narrow the ability to get yourselves in trouble is very important,” Springer said. “What I want to change are things I think are ineffective for [students], things that are keeping you from being the best student body you can be and keeping this school from being the best school it can be.”

Follow Christine on Twitter @chriszacuai.