RRPS hosts 30th anniversary celebration and honors Carl Leppelman

RIO RANCHO – The 30th Anniversary Gala and Retirement Celebration for Carl Leppelman took place Thursday night at the Performing Arts Center at Rio Rancho High School. The event celebrated both the 30-year history of Rio Rancho Public Schools and the retirement of longtime RRPS chief academic officer Carl Leppelman.

The event began with remarks from school board president Amanda Galbraith.

“We’ve seen the good. We’ve seen the bad. We’ve seen the ugly ... and we’ve been resilient,” she said.

Galbraith’s statement set the tone for the first part of the evening, which was focused on the history of Rio Rancho Public Schools.

Next, Dr. Sue Cleveland, superintendent of RRPS, introduced a video from Edit House Productions documenting the district's entire history, after which she thanked the participants and announced a second video to be released in the coming weeks.

Following the celebration and video, the event shifted its focus to retiring chief academic officer Carl Leppelman, who has been with RRPS since its inception in 1994.

“Carl has been an incredible asset to this district,” said Cleveland.

After hearing from friends of Leppelman, it was time for the man himself to speak. He mounted the stairs to the stage with a bit less youthful exuberance than he did when he first started in 1994.

“Those stairs are at least twice as high as they were 30 years ago,” he said.

Leppelman spoke briefly but thanked everyone in attendance for their help in making RRPS a successful school district and concluded by issuing call to action for future district leaders.

“I would challenge everyone to unite around a common cause for these kids.”