Olathe Public Schools Foundation News Releases

Ms. Harrington is an Art teacher at Fairview Elementary and she had a big idea to create a new experience for her students and applied for a classroom grant through the Olathe Public Schools Foundation. This grant was an opportunity to introduce her students to a whole new experience and allow them to study the process of creating Stop Motion animations. They were able to engage in the use of technology and teamwork that goes into the creation of these films.

Mr. Bell is a black social studies teacher and graduate of Olathe Public Schools. He is also a head coach and a Black Student Union sponsor. African Americans are the 2nd largest minority in USD 233 and make up 7.7% of the kids in our district. As a student, he remembers that he didn’t get to see a lot of black success stories, black leaders within the district, or learn much about them.

Because of YOU we raised $30,585 to feed our most vulnerable Olathe students for the rest of the school year!

The 26th Annual Autumn Breakfast held on November 3, at the Embassy Suites Olathe, was a tremendous success, thanks to the support of local businesses and partners who celebrated our achievements as shared by Superintendent Dr. Brent Yeager in his State of the District Address.

Dani Ginther is a nurse at California Trail Middle School and recently posted a DonorsChoose project that was funded by online donors and matched by the Olathe Public Schools Foundation.
 
OPSF is, again this school year, helping Olathe educators get the items they need for their classroom by matching gifts dollar for dollar at www.DonorsChoose.org

In the heart of our Olathe community, a remarkable theatrical production has unfolded. A collaboration across different age groups and schools began last August when David Hastings and other Olathe theater teachers decided to apply for the opportunity to be the only district in Kansas to put on Frozen -- The Broadway Musical, including students from the entire district. They applied for a grant from the Women’s Giving Circle which was matched by a classroom

It was a very muggy and humid evening with a few occasional sprinkles at KC Wine Co. but that did not stop the celebration! The Olathe Public Schools Foundation, along with OPS Learning Services put together an event to welcome our newest educators to the Olathe School District. These new educators were greeted by the Learning Services team, OPSF Board members and even the Superintendent, Dr. Brent Yeager.

We had some very cute and thoughtful visitors come to our offices last week. These Regency Place students all have summer birthdays. Instead of receiving presents from their friends and family for each of their special days, they asked for backpacks and school supplies to give back kids in our school district that may not be able to afford to purchase a fancy backpack or the brand new supplies. What an amazing act of kindness and selflessness to give up getting something fun for yourself and collecting a need for a someone you don’t even know.

Each year OPSF members complete their time serving on our board and we honor them by donating books to one of our Title 1 school libraries with a plaque inside the front cover. Our hope for putting these books in their hands at a young age and giving them a variety to choose from creates a love to reading and sharing as well as lets them know someone cares. Thank you to all of our board members that have served and helped us meet the need.

The Olathe Public Schools Foundation honored TWO Olathe Public School teachers as INNOVATIVE EDUCATORS for the 2022-23 school year. The recipients were chosen out of many nominated all over the district to receive $1,250 each to spend towards innovation during the 2023-24 school year.