Olathe Public Schools

Olathe Community,

We are so happy to see our students back in classes this month as we embark on the second semester. We have so many things to celebrate here in Olathe Public Schools including TWO Horizon Award winners, our outstanding Board of Education, our Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Annual contest student and school winners, as well as the important work that our staff does every single day. In this newsletter, you will read more information on those honorees, as well as information on the 2022 bond project progress, who to contact in our district, an opportunity to provide feedback on the two-hour delayed start and more!

Thank you for partnering with us for not only your student to succeed, but for our district to continue to succeed!

Your very proud superintendent,
Dr. Brent Yeager

• We recognized the Olathe North High School gymnastics team for earning the 6A state championship title for the fourth year in a row!

• Next, we celebrated teachers who received their National Board Certification which is often recognized as the most respected professional certification available in education and one of the highest levels of achievement in education. Congratulations to Kayla Rasmussen (Ravenwood Elementary School), Meg Shadid (Olathe Northwest High School), and Julia Wenzel-Huguley (Olathe North High School) for this honor and to Beth Pope (Forest View Elementary School) and Nancy Smith (Heatherstone Elementary School) for maintaining their certifications.

• District social studies coordinator Julie Fishburn received the Liberty Bell Award from the Johnson County Bar Association for her incredible work with the third grade mock trial program.

• Finally, Superintendent Dr. Brent Yeager recognized the Board of Education, as January is Board of Education Appreciation Month.

January is Board of Education Appreciation Month, a time to honor and celebrate the dedicated individuals who serve on our local school board. These seven elected officials have gone above and beyond in their commitment to ensuring that every student has the opportunity to succeed.

Their hard work, leadership, and passion for education have a lasting impact on our community. Thank you to President Dr. Stacey Yurkovich, Vice President Julie Steele, and members Will Babbit, Brad Boyd, Becky Johann, Robert Kuhn and Claire Reagan! To learn more about the Board of Education, please visit www.olatheschools.org/boe.

Thank you to our families for your patience and understanding during the record-setting inclement weather in January. A special thank you for navigating the district’s first two-hour delayed start on Jan. 21. As we work to assess the delayed start’s impact on our community, as well as identify areas for improvement moving forward, please take a moment to complete this quick three-question survey sharing your feedback on how effective the Two-Hour Delayed start was for your family. If you have children in multiple levels, please complete one survey per child.

In Olathe Public Schools we are committed to maintaining open lines of communication and providing high quality customer service to our community. To help you quickly connect with the appropriate person for any questions or concerns, we’ve created a graphic highlighting those who can best address your questions and concerns on a variety of topics.

Topics should be addressed beginning at Level 1. If the matter cannot be resolved after contacting the building-level staff listed in the graphic below, please contact the assistant superintendent by level. Please note that staff members are not expected to be available after hours to respond to messages. We kindly ask for your patience to allow for responses during standard business hours and thank you for respecting their personal time. Thank you for your continued partnership in supporting our students!

The 24th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Contest focused on the theme "Belief in Humanity." The theme was inspired by Dr. King’s words: “Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.”

The event saw active participation from all ten middle schools and five high schools. Students displayed exceptional talent, with top winners receiving both trophies and monetary awards. Thank you to our schools for their participation!

The Best of Show award was presented to Gabrielle Evans from Olathe South High School for her multimedia video titled "Dedicate Your Life." Chisholm Trail Middle School took home the award for the most entries in the middle school category, while Olathe Northwest High School claimed the same honor for high schools. Congratulations to all of our participants! Click here to read the full list of honorees.

Current Olathe Public Schools families and district employee families who live in the state of Kansas can complete an internal transfer application for the 2025-26 school year. This internal transfer application will close on Feb. 28. Applications will be reviewed during this time.

Completing the in-district transfer application process by Feb. 28 will prioritize our current families and employee families, while helping the district determine our enrollment capacity for out-of-district students. If you miss the Feb. 28 deadline, a second application window will open July 16-30, after out-of-district applications have been reviewed. For more information about transfers, please visit http://www.olatheschools.org/transfers.

Current Olathe Public Schools families and employee families, click here to complete an internal transfer application for the 2025-26 school year. If you have questions, please contact 913-780-7000 and ask for General Administration.

On Monday, Jan. 13, Olathe West High School science teacher Dr. Steve Murray and Scarborough Elementary School first grade teacher Marie Jones learned from Kansas Commissioner of Education Dr. Randy Watson that they were both named statewide winners of the Kansas Department of Education Horizon Award.

The Kansas Horizon Award program identifies and recognizes exemplary first-year teachers, pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, who perform in a way that distinguishes them as outstanding. Each school district may nominate one elementary classroom teacher and one secondary classroom teacher, and from there district finalists are eligible to win at the state level. Dr. Murray and Jones will be honored alongside all of the statewide honorees at a luncheon at the Kansas Exemplary Educators Network conference in February.

“We are incredibly proud of Dr. Steve Murray and Marie Jones for earning the prestigious Kansas Horizon Award,” Superintendent Dr. Brent Yeager said. “They have not only impacted their students, but they have set a remarkable example for educators across the state. We congratulate them both on this well-deserved honor and are excited to see how they continue to inspire and lead in their classrooms. How exciting to have not one but two winners from Olathe Public Schools! We have the best of the best here in our district.”

This month, our Safety Services team shares a safety tip for our families! While our primary focus as a school district is education, we recognize the importance of fostering a safe environment for all students, both in and out of school. Secure weapon storage is one of many factors that contribute to this shared goal of safety.

One valuable resource is the Be SMART program website, which focuses on raising awareness about secure firearm storage to prevent accidents, injuries, and tragedies involving children. Be SMART emphasizes five key steps:

• Secure all guns in your home and vehicles.
• Model responsible behavior around firearms.
• Ask about unsecured guns in other homes.
• Recognize the risks of teen suicide.
• Tell your peers to be SMART.

We want to emphasize that our role is not to promote or advocate for specific practices, but rather to provide access to information and resources that can help families make informed decisions. By offering this resource and connecting families to programs like Be SMART, the Safety Services team aims to support the well-being of our students and the broader community.

The Welcome to Our Classroom video series lets our community take a look inside one of our classrooms on a normal day and meet our educators. This highlight features Rob Jackson, an eighth grade science teacher at Chisholm Trail Middle School, as he shares his passion for teaching. With nearly a decade of experience, Jackson believes science is more than just a subject — it's a way of thinking and exploring the world. Discover how he fosters independence, respect, and lifelong curiosity in his students through hands-on activities, self-paced learning, and engaging lessons that students remember for years to come.

Innovation Campus Update:
We continue to make significant progress on the Innovation Campus project. Interior wall construction, ceiling grid installation, painting and exterior wall work are ongoing at the existing building. For the addition, tilt-up exterior wall panels, structural steel and roof decking are complete, with roof installation expected to finish by the end of January.

Santa Fe Trail Middle School Update:
Work continues on warranty items at the new Santa Fe Trail Middle School, with staff collaborating on necessary fixes. Site grading for the new football field, track and additional parking lot is in progress, with completion of the new parking lot expected by the end of January.

Other District Projects:
Planning for the aging facilities projects this year is moving forward, with bids set to be approved in the coming months and construction scheduled for this summer. Bids for the high school media center and middle school auditorium renovation projects were received in December with construction scheduled for spring and summer, respectively. Finally, the district’s access control manager reader upgrade is nearly complete, with just four buildings remaining.

We are so thankful for YOU – our community – who voted YES on these bond projects in 2022. To find more information, please visit our website.

Questions, comments or suggestions? Email them to communications@olatheschools.org.

Website: www.olatheschools.org
Location: 14160 South Black Bob Road, Olathe, KS, USA
Phone: 913-780-7000
Facebook: facebook.com/olatheschools

Instagram: instagram.com/olatheschoolsks
X / Twitter: @olatheschools

YouTube: youtube.com/@OlathePublicSchools233