Olathe USD 233, also known as Olathe Public Schools, is a public unified school district headquartered in Olathe, Kansas, United States. It is one of the major school districts in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area and is one of the larger school districts in the state of Kansas. There are about 30,000 students enrolled in the district, which operated 5 high schools, 10 middle schools, and 35 elementary schools (one planned to open in 2019), as well as additional educational and support facilities.

Portions of the city of Olathe make up 66% of the district's territory. Areas of Lenexa make up 19%, sections of Overland Park make up 8%, and portions of Shawnee make up less than 1%. Unincorporated areas make up about 6% of the territory."History ." Olathe School District. Retrieved on June 5, 2018.

History The district was created in 1965 from the consolidation of the Countryside School District 103 (a large portion), Meadowlane School District 108, Mount Zion School District 105, Olathe School District 16, and Pleasant View School District 96. Wayne Fick became the first superintendent of the newly unified district. At the time of its creation, there were 3687 students attending a single high school, junior high school, and 5 elementary schools.

M.L. Winters was named superintendent in 1968, and served in that role for 23 years until 1991 - the longest tenure of any superintendent in Olathe history. During that time, district enrollment increased from 4433 to 15,357 students, and 22 new facilities were constructed or rebuilt. The district continued to grow at a rapid pace under the leadership of superintendents Ron Wimmer (1991–2005) and Patricia All (2005–2010, 2016–17), Marlin Berry (2010–2016), and John Allison (2017–2021). In 2010, the district recorded an official enrollment of 27,999, becoming the second largest school district in Kansas.

Beginning in 2009, the district launched a new K-5, 6–8, 9-12 grade configuration. Prior to this time, students in grades 10-12 were assigned to high schools, grades 7–9 to junior high schools, and grades K-6 in elementary schools. As part of this transition, all junior highs were rebranded as middle schools. The transition to this new configuration was completed in 2011. In August 2014, it was announced that construction would begin on Olathe's fifth high school, Olathe West High School and in 2018, the 36th elementary school was announced, named Canyon Creek Elementary School.

The iconic "Blue Backpack Kid" student resource website was first introduced in 2004, and remained largely unchanged until the 2012 redesign which features a gray and beige color scheme with a slideshow that features various students and events.

Demographics , there were 29,622 students enrolled in the school district, which is operated by 4,442 staff/faculty. The vast majority (83.2%) of students are drawn from Olathe, Kansas with the remainder of students living in the neighboring cities of Overland Park (10.1%), Lenexa (5.9%), Shawnee (0.1%), unincorporated areas of Johnson County, Kansas (0.3%), or outside the district (0.4%). The general population of the district boundaries is 158,000, with a median age of 33.2 years old.

The district has a high school graduation rate of 92.9%, with average class sizes as follows: Elementary Schools: 20.5 Middle Schools: 22.0 High Schools: 25.5

Racially/ethnically, the student body is predominantly (69.1%) White/Caucasian. The largest minority groups are Hispanic/Latino (15.0%), Black/African American (7.0%), and Asian (4.3%).

Leadership In 2021, Brent YeagerAdministration; Olathe Public Schools. was appointed as district superintendent.

The Olathe Board of Education is composed of seven members.

Facilities + High Schools Name Date Opened Enrollment () Olathe East High School 1948 Olathe North High School 2126 Olathe Northwest High School 1849 Olathe South High School 1928 Olathe West High School 2017 1634

+ Middle Schools Name Date Opened Enrollment () California Trail Middle School 662 Chisholm Trail Middle School 706 Frontier Trail Middle School 715 Indian Trail Middle School 665 Mission Trail Middle School 728 Oregon Trail Middle School 679 Pioneer Trail Middle School 674 Prairie Trail Middle School 671 Santa Fe Trail Middle School 691 Summit Trail Middle School 614

+ Elementary Schools Name Date Opened Enrollment () Arbor Creek Elementary School 375 Bentwood Elementary School 301 Black Bob Elementary School 282 Briarwood Elementary School 327 Brougham Elementary School 270 Canyon Creek Elementary School 334 Cedar Creek Elementary School 387 Central Elementary School (originally opened in 1882) 227 Clearwater Creek Elementary School 504 Countryside Elementary School 322 Fairview Elementary School 204 Forest View Elementary School 468 Green Springs Elementary School 262 Havencroft Elementary School 261 Heatherstone Elementary School 392 Heritage Elementary School 330 Indian Creek Elementary School 352 Madison Place Elementary School 377 Mahaffie Elementary School 376 Manchester Park Elementary School 613 Meadow Lane Elementary School 399 Millbrooke Elementary School 383 Northview Elementary School 246 Pleasant Ridge Elementary School 263 Prairie Center Elementary School 369 Ravenwood Elementary School 442 Regency Place Elementary School 376 Ridgeview Elementary School 182 Rolling Ridge Elementary School 386 Scarborough Elementary School 311 Sunnyside Elementary School 314 Tomahawk Elementary School 265 Walnut Grove Elementary School 347 Washington Elementary School (originally opened in 1889) 390 Westview Elementary School 167 Woodland Elementary School 306

+ Specialty Schools Name Role/Purpose Date Opened Harmony Early Childhood Center Preschool Heartland Early Childhood Center (originally Heartland Developmental Learning Center) Preschool Johnson County Juvenile Hall Educational Program Juvenile Detention Olathe Advanced Technical Center Vocational school Prairie Learning Center 2007

+ Other Facilities Name Role/Purpose Date Opened College Boulevard Activity Center Student Athletics District Education Center Food Production Center Instructional Resource Center Lone Elm Service Center North Lindenwood Support Center Olathe District Activity Center Student Athletics Operations Service Center Technology Support Center I.T. Support West Dennis Support Center (originally opened in 1966)

See also Kansas State Department of Education Kansas State High School Activities Association List of high schools in Kansas List of unified school districts in Kansas

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