When Trevor Knipe assumed Dean of Student responsibilities at Warsaw Elementary School for the 2025-2026 school year, he brought a strong sense of gratitude for his three-year tenure as principal at Nauvoo\u2019s Sts. Peter and Paul School (SPPS) and his family\u2019s connections to the community.<\/p>\n
The 2014 Warsaw High School graduate attended SPPS until the seventh grade, when he enrolled at Nauvoo-Colusa.<\/p>\n
He fondly recalled his grandmother, Beth Knipe, encouraging and influencing youngsters during his elementary years as a cook at SPPS and his grandfather, Mickey Knipe, doing the same as he thoughtfully performed custodial duties, including mowing the SPPS lawn.<\/p>\n
Making the decision to accept Warsaw\u2019s offer to lead the elementary students was bittersweet, Knipe admitted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I got approached about it, my initial thing was, no I don\u2019t really want to leave. I really like it. I love Sts. Peter and Paul,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He appreciated the nurturing environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s smaller, it\u2019s the only place I knew,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He gratefully noted that there were 57 students enrolled in the pre-kindergartern through sixth grade during his first year at SPPS, and more than 80, perhaps the low 90s attending his last year. There were five teachers his first year and seven when he left.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I got offered the job, it was very difficult to walk away. I went to school there. My family has worked in that school literally my entire life. That\u2019s the only school that I really knew, so it was a lot harder than just three years of being principal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite his initial hesitation, Knipe is pleased and thankful for a welcoming, strong, supportive administration and teaching staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was interviewing, they were very welcoming and everything just felt good,\u201d he noted. \u201cIt just felt like the right time. Katrina, Mrs. Nixon, is fantastic. Mr. Froman\u2019s great to work with. They get the big picture. We have a really, really good group of adults here.\u201d<\/p>\n
In expanding on his first year at Warsaw, Knipe commented that 16 teachers, including two for each grade, instruct 230-plus students. While he considers Warsaw \u201cfairly small in the grand scheme of things,\u201d the increased student population was \u201ca big difference, with a lot more minds to manage, a lot more communication involved. What I\u2019ve learned after my first year\u2013 it takes a team, no matter what you\u2019re doing; we have a very good team.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have some people that have been in education for 25-30 years and we\u2019ve got some, like me, that have been in it for like five,\u201d he observed. Knipe appreciates the opportunities to collaborate with new and experienced teachers.<\/p>\n
Preferring to not micromanage, but be just involved enough, Knipe noted that he tries to not be hidden, to be pretty much apparent, walking around and asking questions.<\/p>\n
In discussing his childhood, Knipe noted that his parents, Susan and Tony, \u201chave probably been my biggest influencers.\u201d Susan has worked at the Villa Marie as a bookkeeper for the Catholic Church for a long time. \u201cShe taught us\u2013 a lot about respect. I\u2019ve tried to make myself a blend of my mom and dad\u2013 both of them. I love them both to death.\u201d He proudly noted that he\u2019s \u201cright in the middle\u201d of his mom and dad and considers himself \u201cvery fortunate to have amazing parents.\u201d He described them as \u201cunderstanding, caring, loving, respectful,\u201d and realistically \u201cholding people accountable but doing anything for anybody; that\u2019s what I always tried to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Knipe also appreciates his sisters; the oldest, Ashlie, is two years older and is married to Mitchell Bollin. Emma is five years younger.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were very blessed growing up,\u201d he said. \u201cWe were taught to work for things and be respectful, show up, stay with a job, and be nice; normal expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Knipe attended McMurray College in Jacksonville from August 2014-May 2018, earning a bachelor\u2019s degree in sports management and business administration and a minor in accounting. His accounting background was immediately beneficial and utilized when Nauvoo-Colusa School District needed a bookkeeper and hired him in June 2018.<\/p>\n
After four years at Nauvoo-Colusa, Sts. Peter and Paul teacher, Kayla Haas, reached out to Knipe and they had a conversation about hiring him as principal; he didn\u2019t have proper educational qualifications, but he was hired because, as a result of his business background and public school employment, he understood management. As a bookkeeper, he had experience with budgets, insurance, \u201call that fun stuff,\u201d and had family ties. His tenure as principal at Sts. Peter and Paul School was made possible by his experience at Nauvoo-Colusa.<\/p>\n
Knipe and his wife, Ally, moved to Warsaw in August 2019. Ally worked in Quincy and Knipe worked in Colusa, so Warsaw was the closest setting to being halfway. She just began working at Max and Zach Rodeffer\u2019s office. As their home is five minutes from school and five miles from the dental office, both are much closer to work.<\/p>\n
Knipe and Ally are blessed with their 18-month-old daughter, Sloane Rose.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe loves peanut butter, she loves bread. Peanut butter on a piece of bread, and boy, she takes a bite and her eyes just light up,\u201d Knipe said. She enjoys peanut butter with apples and bananas, if she\u2019s also given chicken nuggets, she\u2019ll eat the banana first. They are grateful that Sloane\u2019s daycare provider lives in Warsaw.<\/p>\n
Knipe and his family attend Sacred Heart Church in Warsaw and Crossview Church in Keokuk, but he tries to keep connections with Sts. Peter and Paul and attends Mass there as opportunities arise. He attended the successful God\u2019s Portion Day because \u201cI love to support SPPS and always will.\u201d<\/p>\n
Knipe commented that his wife\u2019s career has taken a similar path as she studies to be a dental hygienist while working at the Rodeffer\u2019s dental office.<\/p>\n
Ally makes sure they complete the correct paperwork to stay the course on their respective paths.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe push for each other for sure.\u201d He describes their lives as pretty full, but fun. He wouldn\u2019t want it any other way.<\/p>\n
Neither would Sloane Rose, who loves books and \u201ckind of dances\u201d when she hears certain songs. She is a big fan of \u201cWiggles.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a really good year, there\u2019s been a lot of learning,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of experiences, but, overall, very happy. I think that I\u2019m doing things the right way. You don\u2019t really know until later on, when you make a decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see the kids doing well and teachers are doing well, and so I think all things considered, I think we had a really good year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Trevor Knipe assumed Dean of Student responsibilities at Warsaw Elementary School for the 2025-2026 school year, he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18911,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10928,45],"class_list":["post-18910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-warsaw","tag-teacher","tag-warsaw"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18910\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}