Dr. Katie Collier
Deputy Superintendent
Kyle Hayden Deputy Superintendent
Dr. Mark Schmidt Assistant Superintendent, Special Education
Brian Daley Chief Information Officer
Kristi McNerlin Chief Communications Officer
Dr. Eric Punswick Chief Human Resources Officer
As we reflect on the 2023-24 school year, it’s clear that our community’s dedication and hard work led us through a year of remarkable achievements and inspiring moments. From the enthusiastic start of the year to the many successes we celebrated, this year was a testament to the strength and unity of our Blue Valley family.
The first week of school set a positive tone, thanks to our committed staff and supportive community. Our educators and support staff worked tirelessly to connect with students and set high expectations from day one. We remained committed to academic excellence and cultivating foundational literacy and math skills for our youngest learners. Implementing a new math resource last year led to outstanding growth, with our students outperforming expectations and peers at local, state and national levels.
The 2023 state assessments underscored this success, showing a remarkable 5% increase in math scores. These achievements highlighted the importance of having the right tools and support for our students.
This year also saw significant developments in realworld learning opportunities. Blue Valley Academy’s new construction and auto-tech spaces, made possible by Bond 2020, enriched our students’ educational experiences. Similarly, the approval of Bond 2023 paved the way for exciting projects, including new athletic and program spaces and
the design of the new middle school. These projects were a testament to our community’s investment in our students’ futures.
Our Board of Education continued to prioritize the needs of our students and staff. As we navigated the legislative landscape, we remained committed to advocating for policies that benefit our community.
As we approached the end of the school year, we celebrated the numerous accomplishments of our students. Highlights included 56 Blue Valley seniors being named National Merit semifinalists and two seniors being recognized as U.S. Presidential Scholar semifinalists. These achievements reflected the hard work and dedication of our students.
As we closed this chapter and watched 1,746 graduates walk across the stage, I was grateful for the community’s unwavering support and dedication. Your efforts made this school year remarkable. Thank you for being part of our journey and supporting our mission to provide an exceptional education for every student. Together, we continue to create a brighter future for all.
Dr. Tonya Merrigan, Ed.D. Blue Valley Schools Superintendent
We will create strategically agile systems to fulfill our purpose.
We will assure every Blue Valley student has exemplary educators assisting in their transformation.
We will ensure engaging, meaningful and extraordinary educational opportunities for all students.
We will assure every Blue Valley student has exemplary educators assisting in their transformation.
• Literacy assessments held steady or showed growth:
◊ 75.2% of K-1 students scored at or above benchmark.
◊ 82.4% of 2-8 students scored in the “low risk” or “college pathway” category on the Fastbridge reading assessment.
◊ 66.2% of juniors scored at the ACT English College Readiness benchmark.
◊ 54.3% scored at the ACT Reading College Readiness benchmark as measured by the state-funded ACT.
◊ 58% of students scored a “3” or “4” on the Kansas Assessment Program (KAP) ELA.
• Math assessments held steady or showed growth:
◊ 78.9% of K-7 students were at grade level or above on the iReady Spring diagnostic.
◊ 33.1% of 8th-grade integrated math students were at grade level or above on the iReady Spring diagnostic.
◊ 88.1% of 8th grade Algebra 1 students were at “college pathway” on the Fastbridge math diagnostic.
◊ 44.4% of juniors were at or above the college readiness benchmark on ACT math.
◊ 59.3% of students scored “3” or “4” on KAP math.
• Increased all wages by an average of 6% while creating a teacher salary schedule that is highly competitive with neighboring districts.
• Maintained strong benefits without making plan design changes.
• The current number of resignations and retirements are fewer than the past two years at this time.
• Increased professional learning in a flexible manner.
• Increased collaboration time at the elementary level.
• The new hire class shared similar demographics with current staff.
• Developed and delivered a balanced budget plan, maximizing district resources to support staff and students.
2023-2024
• Created a new state-mandated nonresident enrollment policy that is currently being implemented for the 2024-25 school year.
• Built a three-year plan to complete the Bond 2023 construction projects.
• Designed, bid and began to construct the first summer of Bond 2023 projects.
• Utilized the Student Activities Committee to create a five-year strategic plan.
• Developed an enhanced district business sponsorship program to gain revenue and equitably support high school activities and athletics programs.
3,260
1,746
our students within 2 years of leaving high school have
• Earned an industry-recognized credential while in high school
• Earned a post-secondary certificate
• Earned a post-secondary degree
• Enrolled in post-secondary education for two consecutive years following graduation
The 2024 U.S. News & World Report ranked all five Blue Valley high schools in the Top 10 in Kansas and in the Top 10% nationally.
Blue Valley once again secured a top 1% spot in Niche’s annual school district rankings by earning #75 out of 13,000 school districts in America.
Niche’s 2024 state school district rankings named Blue Valley the #1 Best District, #1 Best Place to Teach and the district with the #1 Best Teachers in Kansas.
The CAPS Network was awarded a $951,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to expand its professionbased learning into rural Kansas school districts over the next three years. CAPS — which launched in Blue Valley in 2010 — is now in more than 170 school districts across 22 states and four countries.
The 33rd Blue Valley Educational Foundation Community Breakfast showcased exceptional district talents, highlighted life-saving programs and raised a record-breaking $398,000 during the event.
Blue Valley was once again recognized by Forbes as a top employer in Kansas, ranking in the top 5 on the Best Employers by State list.
Bre McGranahan intensive resource teacher at Stanley Elementary, was named a 2024 Kansas Master Teacher.
Blue Valley’s Kansas Teacher of the Year Program nominees for 2024 were Cottonwood Point Elementary’s Sherry Kenny and Blue Valley North’s Dan Freeman
Brianna Childers, communications coordinator, was presented with the Kansas School Public Relations Association’s 2023 Newcomer of the Year Award.
Ben Wray, music teacher at Stilwell Elementary and Aspen Grove Elementary, Jennifer Eckroat, kindergarten teacher at Leawood Elementary, Manny Patino-Jiminez Spanish teacher at Blue Valley West, and Lynn Franey, fourth grade teacher at Overland Trail Elementary, were named National Board certified teachers. Ten additional Blue Valley teachers were recertified with the National Board.
The Blue Valley Educational Foundation’s Champion for Students Award was presented to Hilltop Learning Center’s Amanda Wambold Blue Valley Southwest’s Taryn Gervais and Overland Trail Middle’s Christopher Brodersen this year.
The Blue Valley Educational Foundation’s Innovative Educator of the Year Award for 2023-24 was Overland Trail Elementary’s Ariel Puccetti and Overland Trail Middle’s Brooke Karr
Alex Lahasky social studies teacher at Blue Valley West, was named a 2024 Milken Educator Award recipient.
Superintendent Dr. Tonya Merrigan was surprised as the Kansas Music Educators Association’s 2024 Honor Administrator of the Year.
Superintendent Dr. Tonya Merrigan completed The School Superintendents Association’s prestigious AASA National Superintendent Certification Program. Additionally, she was honored by Alpha Kappa Alpha for her exceptional leadership and contributions to our community.
Paul Aubrey band teacher at Prairie Star Middle, was surprised as the Kansas Music Educators Association’s Music Teacher of the Year.
Kelley Tuel teacher at Blue Valley CAPS, was recognized as the 2023 Kansas Outstanding Biology Teacher.
Amber Basom counselor at Heartland Elementary, received the 2023 Sunflower House Education Partner of the Year Award.
Sarah Beren, district coordinator for Career Ready Programs, was named the Kansas Association for Career and Technical Education’s 2023 Counseling and Career Development Professional Award.
Jim McCrossen, publications adviser at Blue Valley Northwest, was inducted into the KSPA Hall of Fame this spring during the National Scholastic Press Association/Journalism Education Association’s Spring National High School Journalism Convention.
Kansas Collegiate Media honored Rachel Chushuk, journalism teacher and publications adviser at Blue Valley Southwest, as the 2024 Jackie Engel Award winner for excellence in scholastic publications advising.
Valley Park Elementary’s Nicole Robson was honored as the Blue KC Sporting Samaritan for the month of June.
Kathy Peres, business teacher at Blue Valley High, received YouScience’s Innovative Educator Award.
Several Blue Valley music educators were recognized by the East Central Kansas Music Educators Association (ECKMEA) with 2023-24 awards including:
ECKMEA Young Music Educators of the Year: Kym Fromme, Oxford Middle choir; Megan Gerbrandt Blue Valley Middle orchestra; Megan Simmons, Timber Creek Elementary music
ECKMEA Middle Level Band Director of the Year: Paul Aubrey Prairie Star Middle
ECKMEA Middle Level Orchestra Director of the Year: Liz Schuller Overland Trail Middle
ECKMEA High School Band Director of the Year: Patrick McCarty Blue Valley North, Leawood Middle and Overland Trail Middle
ECKMEA High School Orchestra Director of the Year: Alison Mayes, Blue Valley Southwest, Aubry Bend Middle and Timber Creek Elementary
Anthony Orrick, football coach at Blue Valley Southwest, was named Eastern Kansas League Coach of the Year.
Kyle Conley girls soccer coach at Blue Valley West, was named the Kansas High School Soccer Coaches Association’s Girls 2024 Kansas All State Teams 6A Coach of the Year.
Blue Valley North’s Ann Fritz coached the West team in the high school McDonald’s All American Girls Game in April.
• Two Blue Valley seniors, Kevin Li and Soumya Takalkar, earned notable recognition as U.S. Presidential Scholar semifinalists.
• Blue Valley Northwest Yearbook Horizon, was one of 27 nationally to win a Yearbook Pacemaker Award. Editors-in-chief for the yearbook were Ella Hedin and Kylie Hess, and advisers were Jim McCrossen and Kim White.
• Advanced Placement (AP) recognized 620 Blue Valley students as AP Scholars for scoring a 3 or higher on at least three AP exams. Those who took AP tests in Spring 2023 passed (scores of 3 or higher) AP exams at an 80.2% rate, the highest average since 2017.
• Ten Blue Valley students achieved a perfect score of 36 on the ACT: Varun Rastogi, Blue Valley High; Akhil Reddy Blue Valley High; Shaun Wall Blue Valley West; McKenzie Glover Blue Valley West; Nikhil Maddipoti Blue Valley High; Arnesh Sharma Blue Valley West; Pranith Surapaneni Blue Valley Northwest; Anna Pearson Blue Valley North; Shreyas Krishnan Blue Valley Northwest; Arden Peterson Blue Valley High. Two students achieved a perfect score of 1600 on the SAT: Sarah Jiang, Blue Valley West; Edward Jiang, Blue Valley High.
• Several Blue Valley students were Business Professionals of America National Champions: Blue Valley High’s Barrett Bergmann in Health Administration Concepts; Blue Valley West’s Rishabh Anand in Esports; Blue Valley West’s Madhava Bhadriraju and Rishi Goli in Financial Analyst Team; Blue Valley West’s Arya Ganne in Esports; Blue Valley West’s Nischay Rawal in Esports; Blue Valley West’s Branden Xiao in Esports; Blue Valley West’s Michelle Young in Digital Media Production, Multimedia & Promotion; Blue Valley West’s Malavika Aravind in Multimedia and Promotion.
• Two Blue Valley students were the Distributive Education Clubs of America’s National Silver Medallion Champions: Blue Valley High’s Sam Dunton in Accounting Applications and Blue Valley High’s Kate Kozlowski in Hotel & Lodging Management. Pleasant Ridge Middle’s Vikram Vallurupalli and Siddharth Tadepalli finished 2nd place in the nation, competing against 59 other state champions, in a Science Olympiad - Chemistry event.
• Blue Valley West’s Ananya Agrawal won the Kansas State Science & Engineering Fair with the research project “Identifying Blip Glitches in a Gravitational Wave Detector Through CNNs.”
• Blue Valley students took the top three places at the State Civics Bee: 1st place - Rishaan Panchal, Oxford Middle; 2nd place - Pranjal Adhikari, Lakewood Middle; 3rd place - Caleb Bonnema, Blue Valley Middle.
• Blue Valley CAPS Medicine and Healthcare students attended the state HOSA Future Health Professionals conference and won the following awards: Sofia Novosel - 3rd place phlebotomy; Payton Trent - 1st place home health aide; Aliyah Haq - 3rd place human growth and development; McKenzie Glover - 1st Place math for healthcare professionals.
• Blue Valley North’s Luke Wakeman was elected the Boys State of Kansas governor for the 2024 session.
• Several Blue Valley students were announced as 2024 Shooting Stars Scholarship Recipients by The Arts Council of Johnson County: Blue Valley Southwest’s Alea Schrock for 3D Visual Art; Blue Valley West’s Elizabeth Ford for Photography; Blue Valley High’s Harrison Jones for Literature; Blue Valley North’s Alexa Newsom for Literature; Blue Valley West’s William Clark for Strings; Blue Valley North’s Noah Tarjan for Voice (Classical).
• Lachlan Hall fourth grader at Wolf Springs Elementary, took 1st place in the Kansas City Chinese Speech Contest, sponsored by the Kansas City Chinese American Association and the Kansas City Institute of Chinese Language and Culture. Blue Valley North is one of 16 schools to receive the Chinese Language Teachers Association’s Distinguished K-12 Chinese Program.
• Kaitlyn McGill third grader at Cedar Hills Elementary, became the 2024 Johnson County Spelling Bee Champion by correctly spelling the word “Corinthian.”
• Five Blue Valley musical groups were selected to perform at the annual Kansas Music Educators Association conference: Leawood Middle Eighth Grade Band, Blue Valley High Chorale, Oxford Middle Eighth Grade Choir, Blue Valley Southwest Orchestra, Blue Valley West Percussion Ensemble.
• Several Blue Valley students were named 3-and-4-Year Kansas Music Educators Association all-state members: Blue Valley High - Jacqueline Chang, Ethan Oppold, Edward Jiang, Ella Lim, Miles Gelman, Henry Monahan, Maia Bajich; Blue Valley Southwest - Kevin Ward; Blue Valley West: William Clark, Aileen Ng, Eric Seo, Lily Seitz; Blue Valley Northwest: Elliese Thurlby, Grace Schlueter, HarAnsh Singh Gugnani, Rishi Venkatesh, Megan Wang, Madison Gener, NSolomon Wu, Jacqueline Lee, Kevin Li; Blue Valley North: Maggie Ruckman, Miles Kim, Noah Tarjan, Gabriel Decker, Benjamin Ding, Hannah Kim, Aaron Tseng
• Two Blue Valley students were among the top winners at the 2024 State MathCounts Competition: Oxford Middle’s Eddison Chen won the 2024 State Championship and Pleasant Ridge Middle’s Jayden Xue took 3rd place.
• Altan Badmaev eighth grader at Harmony Middle, and Robin Kingeter, teacher at Harmony Middle, placed 1st in the middle school division at the Kansas State Art Show.
• Blue Valley High’s Show Choir competed at FAME Orlando and won the following awards: Classic Blend; 1st Runner-Up in the Prep Division Chamber Singers, Best Male Performer - Trevor Lewis, Best Female Soloist - Amaris Stephenson, Best Show Design, Best Vocals, Grand Champion.
• Blue Valley West Choir traveled to Hawaii for the Worldstrides Heritage Performance Festival and won the following awards: Chambers - 1st Place in Small Group; Chorale - 2nd Place in Large Group; Sweepstakes Award (Highest combined score of all competing schools).
• 2024 Kansas Governor’s Scholars Honorees: Blue Valley High - Carter Hagen, Edward Jiang, Suryabalan Rangaraj, Alan Wang; Blue Valley Southwest - Alexis Dominic, Amy Lloyd, Sky Rong; Blue Valley West: Dhiren Narne, Soumya Takalkar, Cheryl Wang, Rebecca Xue; Blue Valley Northwest: Shreyas Krishnan, Shivam Kumar, Kevin Li, Mahathi Reddy; Blue Valley North: Haya Boda, Suditi Challa, Elizabeth Lim, Edward Mu.
• Blue Valley’s Noor Haideri served as the vice president of the national student leadership council of Students Against Destructive Decisions.
• Blue Valley Southwest’s Makena Reno was selected to serve as one of seven facilitators for the National Association of Secondary School Principals’ Student Leadership Network on Mental Health & Well-Being.
6A Boys Swim & Dive
Blue Valley North
6A Boys Tennis
Blue Valley West
6A Debate 2-speaker Blue Valley North
5A Dance Blue Valley Southwest’s Glitter Girls Band Kansas Bandmaster Grand Champions — Blue Valley High Marching Band
• 6A Girls Track: 200m, 400m (state meet record) — Delia Gregory Blue Valley North
• 6A Girls Track: High Jump — Anna Bundy, Blue Valley North
• 6A Boys Tennis: Singles Champion — Francisco Landeras Blue Valley West
• 5A Boys Tennis: Singles Champion — Sanjay Rajkumar Blue Valley Southwest
• 6A Girls Tennis: Singles Champion — Sarah Yan, Blue Valley West
• 6A Boys Swim & Dive: 200-yard Medley Relay — Blue Valley North’s Jack Munro, Ethan Chan, Henry Parisi, Max Masilionis
• 6A Boys Swim & Dive: 400-yard Free Relay — Blue Valley North’s Wilson Riekhof, Khasar Chinbat, Alec Lopez, Jack Munro
• 6A Boys Swim & Dive: 100-yard Butterfly — Micah Churchill Blue Valley Northwest
• 6A Boys Swim & Dive: 100-yard Breaststroke — Jack Punswick, Blue Valley West
• Blue Valley West eSports won the Counter-Strike 2 Winter National Championship competition.
• Blue Valley High’s Hadley Neese won the Kenneth Smith Award as the top female high school golfer in the Kansas City metro for 2023. This fall, Neese was the two-round Blue Valley individual champion, three-round EKL individual champion, Kansas Class 6A regional champion and state runner-up. She also set a school record for lowest 18-hole round, boys or girls, with a 66.
• Blue Valley West’s Annika Finzen was named the Children’s Mercy Female Performance of the Week. Finzen won the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke at the state meet, becoming just the 4th in state history to win 8 of 8 career individual golds.
• Blue Valley High’s Jadyn Wooten was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Kansas, as well as a KSHSAA Top 5 selection for the 2024 season.
• Blue Valley North’s Logan Parks was named the 2023-24 Gatorade Kansas Volleyball Player of the Year.
• United Soccer Coaches announced Blue Valley Southwest’s Hannah Palmer as one of only 43 girls players across the country to be named a 2023-24 High School All-American.
• Blue Valley Southwest’s Dylan Dunn was presented The Thomas A. Simone Memorial Football Award, given annually to the most outstanding high school football player in the greater Kansas City metropolitan area. Dunn led all-classes of Kansas in passing yardage for 2023.
• Blue Valley Southwest’s Alex Parks was named the 2023 Otis Taylor Award recipient, given to the best receiver/tight end in the Kansas City area.
• The Kansas High School Soccer Coaches Association named Blue Valley Northwest’s Nimu Karani as the 6A Goalkeeper of the Year and Blue Valley Southwest’s Hannah Palmer as the 5A Forwards of the Year on the Girls 2024 Kansas All State Teams.
• 2024 KC Star Scholar-Athlete high school award-winners: Chance Rinkol, Blue Valley High; Janelle Green Blue Valley North; Jackie Lee Blue Valley Northwest; Annika Finzen Blue Valley West.
• Blue Valley Southwest’s Dylan Dunn was named MVP of the Kansas vs. Missouri All-Star Game after completing 7/10 passes for 260 yards and 3 TDs. Dunn was also named East MVP of the Kansas Shrine Bowl after record completions [25], passing yards [307] and touchdowns [4].
• Avery Karl, 2024 graduate of Blue Valley North, qualified for the U.S. Olympic swim trials in the 50-meter freestyle.
During the 2023-24 school year, Blue Valley served 22,709 students with total operating expenses of $242 million. The District mill levy decreased by 1.112 mills from the previous year. The components of this mill levy and assessed valuation are listed below.
