Blue Valley's 50 Year History

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A special poem dedicated to the staff of Blue Valley Schools, 1965-2015.

Always Blue Valley I can still hear it. The quiet cadence of the Blue River as it winds through the valley.

The prairie grass tickles while it sways in the wind, and as I breathe in, the smell of home consumes me. I close my eyes and I’m there.

Back then, nobody knew who I was—I didn’t even have a name. And looking back now, I can hardly believe I’m 50.

Highways and bustling streets replace the unpaved roads of my youth. What once was uncharted territory now flourishes with homes filled with families and children, friends and neighbors. New to many, yet to me always home.

While much has changed as the years have passed, one thing has remained the same—you.

In your kindness, you welcomed me into your life. In your acceptance, you shaped me into who I am today. In your continued support, you grew to be much more than an acquaintance; you became my friend. Through the years you’ve shared your time, talent and laughter with me, but most importantly, you’ve shared your heart. It is truly an honor to celebrate you today and every day.

Thank you for the memories I have cherished over the past 50 years and for the many more to come.

Love always,

Blue Valley

Written by Becky Miller, BVNW Class of 2010

Acknowledgements:

An unknown patron called Blue Valley Schools’ District Office in 2010 asking where he could find information about the history of Blue Valley. He was disappointed to hear that while there are bits and pieces of history captured in the schools and various documents, there was no single public document that told the story of the district. Fast forward five years. A broad overview of “Blue Valley’s 50-Year History” is the district’s answer to his question and a tribute to the people of Blue Valley as told through the eyes of those who lived it.

The project was led by Blue Valley Schools’ Communication Department: Kristi McNerlin, Executive Director of Communication Kaci Brutto, Communication and Media Manager Becky Miller, Communication Specialist With support from: Dr. Al Hanna, Interim Superintendent Dr. Mike Slagle, Deputy Superintendent

Written by: Charles Redfield Graphic Designer: M. Patrice Walker, Walker Design 1

1951 Original Stanley Elementary opens

1955 Stilwell Elementary opens

Nestled in the heart of northeastern Kansas is a place not found on a map. It is not a city, a township or a village, but say the name to anyone in the area and they’ll know exactly where to find it. For those who know it well, this place lives in the identity of local businesses, in school names, on street signs and in the heart of the people. It is a community, an identity and a culture. It is Blue Valley.

And like any other community, Blue Valley has its own unique history—a history defined by growth and expansion, excellence and success. A history that all began with a simple school district years ago.

In the beginning

In the late 1950s, the Kansas Legislature contracted with the University of Minnesota to survey Kansas schools. At the time there were about 2,800 school districts in Kansas. Only 238 were kindergarten-grade 12 and the rest were one- or two-room schools in rural areas.

After careful consideration and research, the Legislature passed the state’s first unification law in 1963.

Each county formed a planning commission with Johnson County having two commissions. The idea was to have one or more school districts per county.

It was in June of 1965 when the unification of the Stilwell Consolidated District #8, Oxford District #112 and Stanley District #4 took place. With this unification, Southeast Johnson County Unified School District #229 was born.

The new district covered 91 square miles and served 573 students. There were three elementary schools—North Oxford, Stanley and Stilwell—and two high schools—Stanley and Stilwell. The consolidation of the three districts was just the beginning of Blue Valley’s history—a history that is best told through the eyes of those who lived it.

2

1965 Unification of Southeast Johnson County Unified School District #229 James McAnarny named superintendent of Southeast Johnson County Unified School District #229

1968 Jim March named superintendent Bond election passes $2,850,000

Where the river divides a rivalry brews

Elaine Haberstroh, Stanley High School graduate, remembers a great deal of the district’s history.

She moved into the area in 1966.

“I went from my sophomore year at Shawnee Mission East, with a class of 900 students, to Stanley High School with just 97 students in the entire school,” Haberstroh said. “My first day was one to remember. I had no locker combination to remember because our lockers would not even shut all the way and we had to share our lockers. The student I shared with ended up being my husband.”

Haberstroh graduated in 1968 from Stanley High School and went on to hold several jobs with the district. She was hired to run the substitute office in 1991 and stayed in that job until she retired in 2006.

While Haberstroh experienced numerous positive milestones during her time at Stanley High School, not everything was smooth sailing for the district as it worked to build its foundation. An intense rivalry was brewing between Stanley and Stilwell high schools and the new district was sure to have fireworks, especially with the decision to combine the two high schools to form Blue Valley High.

Two teachers and coaches, Rick Taylor and Duane Pollman, were involved with the merger of Stanley and Stilwell high schools and the opening of Blue Valley High. They recall the tension during this time in Blue Valley’s history, and to say there was an intense rivalry between the two high schools would be understating the facts.

“They hated each other,” said Taylor, former Stilwell High School teacher and the first Blue Valley High boys’ basketball coach, of the rivalry between the two schools. “If you beat the other one you can say you had a good year.”

“You only had to win one game,” said Pollman, former Stilwell High School teacher and assistant basketball coach to Taylor at Blue Valley High. That game, of course, was the heated rivalry showdown between Stanley and Stilwell.

Just as the teachers and coaches took note of the rivalry, the students were also in tune to the tensions. Bill Lowe grew up during this period and attended both grade school and high school in the two buildings at 151st and Metcalf that now make up district offices. Lowe recalls the tensions among classmates and families that remained even after Stanley and Stilwell merged into one high school.

3

1970 Blue Valley High opens (unification of Stanley High and Stilwell High)

“I remember our first year ever as ‘Blue Valley High’ was at Stanley High School,” Lowe said.

The Stilwell kids were not happy.

“Actually, I think it was more their parents who were upset than the kids, but it did cause some hard feelings,” Lowe said.

Despite the effort to bring two schools together as one, the rivalry still existed among students, making it difficult to build a unified student body. Taylor recalls the difficulty he faced in trying to build camaraderie among his newly formed basketball team made up of rival players from both Stanley and Stilwell high schools.

“My first basketball practice, I had 15 kids from Stilwell at one end of the court and 12 from Stanley at the other end,” Taylor said. “I had to make one team out of them. It took about three years.”

When the merger between the two rival high schools was complete, it was Superintendent Jim March who decided the colors and the mascot for the new high school would be the same as the Missouri Tigers, likely because he was a Missouri graduate himself.

And the name Blue Valley?

The battle over the new high school’s name was the talk of the towns.

“Some people in the Stanley area wanted to call the school STANSTIL, while people in the Stilwell area wanted to call the new school STILSTAN,” Taylor said.

Both sides of the naming issue lost when March stepped in and gave the school its name. The Blue River, located in a valley, ran between the two rival high schools, hence the name Blue Valley.

Agreement on the school name, however, was not the only challenge the district faced.

According to Taylor, construction on the new Blue Valley High building was delayed by a construction strike, adding to the list of hurdles for the merger.

4

New high school, new beginnings

The new high school was finally built at 6001 West 159th St., in what many considered to be the middle of nowhere.

“Most of the district was unincorporated area,” said Bruce Robb, former two-term Board of Education member and former member of the Blue Valley Business Advisory citizen committee.

“Basically Blue Valley south of 135th Street consisted of families, all of whom attended the same schools, same churches, belonged to the same service clubs and lived in large lot subdivisions or tracts of land.”

For former Blue Valley High student Bill Lowe, although this unincorporated area was certainly in need of further development, he still remembers his excitement and curiosity for the new school.

“There were not many houses or paved roads around then,” Lowe said. “I remember how nice everything was in the new school and how us old farm kids were really impressed.”

Outside of the school, however, things were still a work in progress.

“There were only fields around our new high school and I remember practicing football in a corn field across the street when our field was muddy,” Lowe said.

Because the district built the high school in a relatively underdeveloped area, there were some people who thought Blue Valley High was unnecessarily big.

Steve McIlvain, former Blue Valley High administrator and former assistant deputy superintendent Education Services, said, “I always heard that some people ridiculed the school district for building a senior/junior high school that big at 159th and Lamar. They said the building would never be full because the district would not grow that much.”

Those disbelievers would soon be proved wrong.

Despite the negative perception about Blue Valley High’s size, the district did, in fact, grow to fit the building. The district’s total enrollment in 1970-71 was 852.

With the merger complete, the new high school constructed and enrollment slowly growing, Blue Valley Schools had successfully planted its roots in the Johnson County community. Its next task was to ensure its schools ran like well-oiled machines and Blue Valley High’s first principal was just the right man for the job.

5

1974 Jim Thompson named superintendent

1975 Bond election passes $3,400,000 District adopts bv corn stalk logo and “Growing with Pride” motto.

Minding your p’s and q’s

“The first principal at Blue Valley [High] was Bill Enos,” Taylor said. “He was a retired Army colonel and a tough disciplinarian. He even had a dress code.”

Suzanne Stricklin, Blue Valley High’s first band director, said, “I began my teaching career at Blue Valley High in 1971. Corporal punishment was used frequently for male students.”

Stricklin indicated times were different for ladies too.

“Female students and teachers were not allowed to wear slacks or pants.

Skirts and dresses, which were frequently measured, could be no shorter than mid knee,” she said.

While the new school and principal had numerous rules and expectations for students and staff, one thing was evident: with each passing day, the Blue Valley community was growing closer.

Stricklin said of the rivalry between the two merged high schools, “Kids forgot about the rivalry and began to form a unified student body. The building climate reflected more of a small town atmosphere for students and staff.”

That small town atmosphere helped bring the people together, generating fellowship among the Blue Valley community and even an unexpected romance among two employees.

Mike and Diane DeNoon, who for many years held the record for most years of service in the district, actually met and married while teaching at Blue Valley High. Mike was a baseball coach, assistant football coach and science teacher at Blue Valley High before moving to Blue Valley West when it opened in 2001 and retiring in 2013. Diane was a German and Spanish teacher for many years and then transitioned to the World Language District Coordinating Teacher.

“Before we could get married, we had to go before the Board of Education and ask their permission,” Diane said. “There was some sort of administrative guideline at the time that said that married persons couldn’t both work in the district.”

They were left with two choices.

“Either the Board of Education consented or one of us would have to look for a teaching job elsewhere,” Diane said. “The Board of Education consented and I think they changed the rules pretty quickly after that.

We got married in the spring of 1975.”

6

1976 Original Blue Valley Middle opens Southeast Johnson County Unified School District #229 renamed to Blue Valley USD #229

Diane DeNoon was hired by Principal Larry Dwyer, who she says was pretty lax when it came to roaming the hallways of the school. It was a little different than today.

“All of the students had hall passes to go wherever they wanted whenever they wanted,” she said.

“When they misused the passes, then those were taken away.

“It was a nightmare for teachers to remember who was on the ‘No Pass List.’ Each morning on the announcements they would name who didn’t have pass privileges that day. Fortunately we didn’t stick with that too long.”

Fine tuning the district’s rules and regulations was just one of many tasks Blue Valley needed to tackle. Superintendent Jim Thompson helped take the district to the next level by addressing the other responsibilities facing a growing district and continuing to help the Blue Valley find its identity in Johnson County.

Growing and expanding as Blue Valley

In 1974 Jim Thompson became the district’s third superintendent.

He came over from the Shawnee Mission School District and one of his first tasks was to establish a true brand and identity for the district. Thompson embarked on a mission to slowly get the district’s name changed from Southeast Johnson County Unified District #229 to Blue Valley School District #229.

“The name was too long and did not have a local flavor to it,” he said. “So, we early on (1976) changed the name to Blue Valley because of the Blue River, which ran through the eastern part of the area, and the name of the high school (Blue Valley) was already established. The new name has proven to be a big part of the community south of I-435.”

7

1977 Bond election passes $3,700,000

1978 Leawood Elementary opens

1981 Leawood Middle opens

1980 Morse Elementary opens

Bond election passes $8,500,000

Around the same time that the district’s name changed, Blue Valley also instated its signature lapel pin with green corn stalk leavens bent into the form of “bv” along with the tag line, “Growing with Pride.”

“It is my understanding that the district conducted a contest encouraging students to design a logo for the district,” said Steve McIlvain, former deputy superintendent Education Services. “This corn stalk design also stood the test of time. It is a reminder of our small town, rural roots.”

The tagline “Growing with Pride” was spot-on for what the district was preparing for – more students.

“We held a bond election during my first year to build a middle school and to add on to the four existing schools,” Thompson said. “It was for $3.4 million to build Blue Valley Middle School and the additions.

Blue Valley Middle School opened in 1976.

“We created a middle school because we thought it was a good concept to put sixth, seventh and eighth graders together in the school,” Thompson said. “And, we knew that the district would have lots of enrollment growth, primarily at the elementary school level. To help cope with that growth, we moved sixth graders out and hoped to build fewer elementary schools.”

8

1982

Indian Valley Elementary opens $9,600,000 Bond election fails (the first and only time in district’s 50-year history), prompting a major decision to split the district into two high schools First band booster club is formed

1983

Re-submitted $15,000,000 bond proposal, securing funds for a second high school, passes.

1985 Valley Park Elementary opens Bond election passes $21,000,000

Fighting against the North divide

By 1980, the enrollment had continued to grow from 852 students in 1970 to 2,873 students.

“The early 80s were the beginning of consecutive years of rapid growth, rapidly changing demographics [and] a clash of cultures within the school district,” former Board of Education member Bruce Robb said. “It was old timers versus the multitude of young families or newcomers moving south.”

With the almost four times increase in enrollment in 1980, there was a need to open a new high school. The district’s answer to this issue was Blue Valley North. Although constructing a new high school would ultimately benefit the district’s students and faculty, the idea of dividing Blue Valley High to bring students to Blue Valley North was not well-received.

9

“Despite growth that continued during the early years, one of the most controversial issues was the splitting of the high schools for the first time,” former superintendent Jim Thompson said. “When we proposed a bond issue to build a second high school, it failed because people doubted the need and did not want to split Blue Valley High.”

This was the only bond issue that failed in the first 50 years of the district.

“We came back later, involved lots of citizens in defining the issues and easily passed the issue to build Blue Valley North,” Thompson said.

Jim Payne also recalls the time leading up to Blue Valley North’s debut. Payne came to the district in 1982 and worked as an English teacher, assistant principal and held various titles in the Human Resources Department.

“The growth (at Blue Valley High) was phenomenal,” he said. “By the last year before Blue Valley North opened, we often had traffic jams in the halls.

“So many kids and no one was moving.

Classes were big (36 in senior English) because there weren’t enough places to put them.”

10

Harry McDonald, former Blue Valley High biology teacher, echoes Payne’s description of an overcrowded school.

“I remember that before Blue Valley North opened we were very crowded,” he said. “I think we had a dozen mobiles (mobile classrooms).”

It was evident another high school was needed to accommodate the district’s growth, but students were less than thrilled to be separated from their classmates. The spring of 1986 was not a happy time for students at Blue Valley High.

“The juniors at the high school were not pleased about being forced to separate (there was no senior option), so they staged a protest and marched from Blue Valley High down to the DO (district offices),” Payne said. “As a means of building identity, the school handed out T-shirts the day before the final day of school.

Payne went on to explain, “The idea was that you would know who was leaving and who was staying. If you were going to Blue Valley North, you got a gray/blue Blue Valley North shirt with a mustang. If you were staying at Blue Valley High, you got a bright gold/black shirt with a tiger.”

Many of the students didn’t like that idea.

“On the following day, kids showed up with all kinds of creative responses,” Payne said. “Some had split the shirt in two and had a friend do the same. So they showed [up] with gray/blue on the front and gold/ black on the back (or vice versa).

“Some did it horizontally (gray/blue top and gold/back from the chest down). Some had ripped it into thin shreds and wore a shredded shirt.

Some had written on it in magic marker.”

11

1986 Blue Valley North opens

The next year, things were different at Blue Valley High.

“The next year we hardly knew what to do with ourselves,” Payne said. “The building (Blue Valley High) had held over 1,478 students and we dropped overnight to 641 students.”

And while the students and staff members at Blue Valley High were learning how to take advantage of their recently regained space, the community at the newly opened Blue Valley North was trying figure out how to work through the ups and downs of starting off the school year at a new building.

Marion Roberts, band instructor at Blue Valley North from the opening in 1986 to his retirement, said, “We were held back from opening the school on the first day because the fire department had to complete its inspections. [The] band, students and faculty waited outside for the doors to be officially opened for the school.”

And band practice wasn’t easy.

“The band rehearsed across the street at Valley Park Elementary because the performing arts area had not been completed,” Roberts said. “Harvey Greer (athletic director) came across the street to watch and asked ‘where is the field?’ We were basically in a pasture.”

Practicing in a pasture instead of a performing arts area was a far cry from what Roberts was used to. He had left a tenured university position to see if he had been teaching young music educators the correct way to manage a public school job.

“I fully intended to return to the post-secondary world in a few years,” he said. “Little did I realize how much I would become enthralled with the students and adventures that would come.”

For Roberts, working for a growing school district presented him with a challenge he could not pass up.

“I would say that being involved with such a dynamic public and rapidly expanding district was a challenge for everyone, but a challenge that was faced and mastered by district administrators, educators and building support staff.”

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1988

1987 Oak Hill Elementary opens

Oxford Middle opens New Stanley Elementary opens Tomahawk Ridge Elementary opens Bond election passes $76,830,000 The Professional Development Council is created Jim Thompson named Kansas Superintendent of the Year

Blue Valley’s rural roots go suburban The addition of Blue Valley North was just the tip of the iceberg in the district’s expansion.

To start the 1987-88 school year, the district grew by 1,000 students—the largest one-year growth the district experienced in its first 50 years. This unprecedented growth rate prompted the opening of multiple schools in the district. Between the fall of 1985 and the fall of 1995, the district opened two high schools, three middle schools and eight elementary schools.

This period also marked the introduction of technology in classrooms.

Tom Melia, who helped open Overland Trail Middle in 1990, notes the change in resources over the past 25 years.

“The biggest difference (since Overland Trail Middle’s opening) is probably the classroom technology,” Melia said. “Phones, for example, were not in any teacher rooms. There were phone lines wired to each room [and] the line was shared between five classrooms.”

In addition to the old style of phones, Melia also recalls the novelty of computers and the Internet. According to Melia, there were only eight computers and no world wide web. To go online, teachers would flip a switch next to the computer to cut off all the classroom phones connected to the line and then use a modem to dial up another computer.

Kathy Gurley-Hartsock, Overland Trail Middle physical education teacher, remembers the rural landscape of the area when the schools opened.

“When we opened we were in a very rural area,” Gurley-Hartsock said. “We were surrounded by pastures and cows—I remember the cows being louder than the kids playing on the field,” she joked. “We did not have any retail stores around us. 135th Street was referred to as 150 Highway and it was a tiny two lane road with no stop lights from Highway 169 to Martin City.”

13

1989 Mission Trail Elementary opens

Al Hanna saw the changes taking place in the growing district firsthand too. He began working for the district in 1982, serving in many capacities ranging from Blue Valley High band director, fine arts coordinator, director of personnel, assistant superintendent Human Resources, deputy superintendent Administrative Services and interim superintendent in 2015.

“I think the district spent a lot of time looking for something I could do,” he joked.

Needless to say, Hanna has seen a number of firsts in his three plus decades with the district.

Some of them include more than 25 new school dedications; the opening of the Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS), Blue Valley Academy and the Hilltop Campus; and the transition from a few computers in each school to numerous mobile devices.

Hanna considers the opening of Blue Valley North in 1986 as a turning point.

“I believe we started to feel more like a suburban district when the second high school opened,” he said. “And that feeling increased with each year.”

For Hanna, it was Jim Thompson, who served as superintendent from 1974 to 1993, who really helped Blue Valley Schools grow into its suburban identity.

“I believe there were a number of individuals hired by the board and Jim Thompson with the purpose of moving the school district from being viewed as a rural school district to being viewed as an outstanding suburban district, much like Shawnee Mission,” Hanna said.

14

1990 Cottonwood Point Elementary opens Overland Trail Elementary opens Overland Trail Middle opens

But the superintendent and Board of Education could not make this transition alone. One of the key contributing groups that helped bring success to the district was the parents.

“For many of our parents, they could have chosen a home in almost any area of greater Kansas City,” he said. “When you ask them why they chose to live in Blue Valley, they nearly always have the school district at the top of their list.

“They are focused on providing a quality education for their children. The parents have given their children some great experiences and they come to school ready to learn.”

With the support of involved parents and a dedicated Board of Education, Thompson was able to put into place a strong suburban foundation for the district, securing a lasting impact when he left the district in the spring of 1993.

In the fall of 1993, David Benson took over as superintendent and the district’s third high school, Blue Valley Northwest, opened. The first principal was Russ Kokoruda, who, after 11 years as principal, went into district administration.

“I remember the excitement of the community over the beautiful building and the attached District Activity Complex (DAC),” Kokoruda said. “Of course, it took us awhile to convince our community that the DAC was a district facility and not just for the [Blue Valley Northwest] Huskies.”

Kokoruda also noted that 135th Street was undeveloped when the school opened in 1993.

“Compare that to now,” he said, “quite a change over 21 years.”

The high school opened with students from both Blue Valley High and Blue Valley North.

“We worked hard to make both groups Huskies and both sets of parents Huskies,” he said. “Traditions from both schools were adopted, including both After Prom and After Graduation.

“The projected opening student enrollments were in the 900s, but we actually opened with more than 1,300 due to voluntary student transfers. Just as Blue Valley North and Blue Valley High had already done, Blue Valley Northwest developed its own community feel and support. And 21 years later, the community pride is evident.”

And students were not the only ones to move schools. There were also a handful of teachers who transitioned from the surrounding Blue Valley high schools to the newly opened Blue Valley Northwest.

15

1992 Harmony Elementary opens

1990

Harmony Middle opens

Strategic plan leads district to adopt vision ”Together, we will enable each child to become more than he or she ever hoped to be.”

Blue Valley Educational Foundation is created

Rick Pribyl came over from Blue Valley North to Blue Valley Northwest in the English Language Arts department and he remembers well the start of the school year in 1993.

“All of the furniture for the classrooms did not arrive until two days before the opening,” he said. “Some classrooms, like mine, still had sawdust on the cabinets.”

Jim McCrossen was in his first year of teaching English and yearbook at Blue Valley North in 1992 when he was told that he would be moving to Blue Valley Northwest to start the journalism program.

“I was thrilled to have the opportunity to start the program from the ground up,” he said.

McCrossen had been a photojournalist at a paper in southern California before deciding to become a teacher.

“When we opened, our newspaper and yearbook darkroom equipment was missing and our laser printer and computers were also MIA,” McCrossen said. “The students were driving back and forth to Blue Valley North to process their film and print their photos in the darkroom.

“We had one computer so the students would handwrite their stories and then one student would do the word processing, save the work on a floppy disk and drive to North to print everything out.”

It was just after the first newspaper was published and the first yearbook deadline was completed when an unexpected conversation at the local mall would help to bring McCrossen and his students the equipment they needed.

16

1993 David Benson named superintendent Blue Valley Northwest opens Prairie Star Elementary opens

“One of my photographers mentioned that she worked at Oak Park Mall the previous evening and while a young man was trying on some clothes, she struck up a conversation with the young man’s father,” McCrossen said. “He asked her about school and where she went.

“When she said Blue Valley Northwest, he asked how being a student at a new school was going. She told him about our missing equipment, and he said he would do what he could to help.

“She later found out she was helping David Benson, superintendent of Blue Valley Schools,” McCrossen said. “Later that day all of our equipment was delivered and installed.”

Benson not only helped Blue Valley Northwest in its initial days as a high school, but also made his mark in Blue Valley by using “the threelegged stool,” a euphemism for his administrative philosophy.

“We had to do three things exceptionally well,” Benson said. “One, our students had to grow and develop academically. The second leg was safety and the third was service.”

During Benson’s tenure from 1993 to 2004, both Blue Valley Northwest and Blue Valley West opened along with the Blue Valley Academy, an alternative high school. In addition, three middle schools and eight elementary schools opened, including the new Blue Valley Middle.

“I can remember loading a group of students up on a school bus and driving out to the school site for the ground breaking,” former Blue Valley Middle assistant principal Scott Currier said. “We drove out to the Wilderness area and cheered on the ceremony.”

When the district opened a new middle school at 5001 West 163rd Terrace in August 1998, the name Blue Valley Middle School was transferred to the facility.

“The opening of the ‘Triple Combo site,’ was a great moment,” Benson recalls. “I had the privilege of opening the middle school (Pleasant Ridge in 1997), the high school (Blue Valley West in 2001) and the elementary school (Cedar Hills in 2004), [which opened] the August after I left.”

Benson went on to say, “There were about 11,000 students when I came in 1993 and when I left in 2004, there were about 19,000 students. The square footage under roof more than doubled during the 11 years.”

17

1995 1994

Heartland Elementary opens

1996

Bond election passes $104,209,755

1997

Pleasant Ridge Elementary opens Blue River Elementary opens Pleasant Ridge Middle opens

Prairie Star Middle opens

Strategic plan developed under Superintendent David Benson.

Changing with the times

During this time, the growing number of students was not the only thing to change in Blue Valley. After the Columbine tragedy in 1999, the district installed multiple security devices throughout its schools.

The school district also experienced changes in state funding, spurring the development of the Blue Valley Educational Foundation (BVEF), a nonprofit organization.

“The Blue Valley Educational Foundation was formed in 1990 to enable our local community to provide direct financial support to Blue Valley Schools,” Cal Kleinmann, 1990-91 Chairman, BVEF Advisory Board, said. “In light of statewide changes to tax-based support for public education, our community wanted to ensure continuing excellence for our students.”

Through the generosity of its patrons, mainly corporations, parents, staff and numerous local businesses, BVEF in its first 25 years funded teacher grants and district-wide programs totaling more than $3.5 million in support of educational excellence.

A hallmark of BVEF is its Sunflower Ambassador character education program, founded in 1998

by Barb Unell, author and former BVEF board member. The program recognizes a student and staff member in each school who exhibit the seven Blue Valley virtues: compassion, courage, honesty, perseverance, respect, responsibility and self-discipline.

“Virtues will serve our students well during their entire lives, personally and professionally,” Unell said.

18

1998 Sunset Ridge Elementary opens New Blue Valley Middle opens The ACCESS house breaks ground Blue Valley Academy opens Bond election passes $166,799,907

1999 Lakewood Elementary opens The Carolyn Ball Blair Wilderness Science Center opens.

2000

David Benson named Kansas Superintendent of the Year The Education Services Center opens at the former Stanely High School and current District Offices Blue Valley Television (BVTV) airs its first studentproduced live show on its cable access channel.

2001

Blue Valley West opens Tomahawk Ridge Elementary closes and merges with Valley Park Elementary

Growing into the millennium

With the creation of BVEF to round out the decade, the district entered into the new millennium by expanding its presence with a new high school. In 2001, Blue Valley opened up its fourth high school, Blue Valley West, a special memory for Randy Lowe.

Lowe came to the school as a physical education teacher and head wrestling coach, later serving as a physical education teacher at Pleasant Ridge Middle School.

“When West opened, I was extremely proud to be back teaching and coaching in Blue Valley, especially since it was built about a mile from where I grew up and on land that I hunted all the time,” he said. “My great grandmother had owned and lived on the land where Pleasant Ridge [Middle] sits.

“I had always wanted to get back to Blue Valley High (his alma mater) because that was home, but Blue Valley West was actually perfect.”

John Laurie was appointed as the first principal of Blue Valley West. He came from Shawnee Mission West and was given a year to put together his staff.

He also brought block scheduling with him, a first for Blue Valley Schools.

“I knew that I would have to work with the staff on how to transition to and teach effectively using a block schedule.”

Laurie said they had over 200 interviews for 42 positions. His first administrator hire was Eileen McDonald from Olathe East.

Her husband, Bill, also came aboard as the head baseball coach and physical education teacher after serving as head baseball coach at Shawnee Mission South for 30 years.

“It was an exciting time as everyone was new to the situation at West,” Bill McDonald said.

“The facilities were more than I had ever had.”

While Blue Valley West only had 100 seniors its opening year, the school did eventually grow to reach capacity.

19

2002

Liberty View Elementary opens Lakewood Middle opens

The decade of collaboration and personalization It was just a few years after Blue Valley West opened that David Benson left for a superintendent position in Missouri. In 2004 Blue Valley’s Board of Education chose Tom Trigg as the district’s fifth superintendent.

Trigg came into the district in the fall of 1996 as assistant superintendent of Administrative Services after 17 years in administration in the Gardner-Edgerton School District.

“My best hire was Tom Trigg and my best promotion, Tom Trigg to Deputy Superintendent (2001),” Benson said.

“I came here with the idea of a different challenge,” Trigg said. “[Blue Valley] was a larger and growing district and that made sense.”

His vision for Blue Valley Schools was to focus on the already excellent academic side of the district, encouraging students and staff to continue to pursue academic excellence by going above and beyond.

“I wanted to convince people that the status quo is not acceptable,” Trigg said. “Everyone can get better every day.”

To help with this continued growth, Trigg reached out to the community to form a plan, the strategic plan that would serve as the roadmap for the district.

“I’m so proud of the Blue Valley community,” Trigg said. “They continue to come together and remain united behind the strategic plan.”

20

2004 Tom Trigg named superintendent Cedar Hills Elementary opens

In addition to exceeding the status quo, he made personalized student learning a common focus for the district’s staff.

“We want to look at every child as an individual,” he said. “We want each of them to get an education unique to that individual.”

But for Trigg, classroom success did not only apply to students, but also to Blue Valley’s teachers. For this reason, he continued to encourage collaborative work among staff members through Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), a practice that began under Benson’s tenure.

“The idea was to understand the power of collaboration, data analysis and communications,” he said. “We wanted to be a school system, not a system of schools.”

“The professional learning community process has defined our success,” Blue Valley High principal Scott Bacon said. “It was the result of that collaborative effort on the part of everyone to have a positive impact on student learning. If you look at our history, it shows continued escalation of student performance.”

And that escalated student performance has never been more apparent. For 10 consecutive years, the district, every Blue Valley school, grade level and subgroup achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in accordance with the No Child Left Behind Act. According to research conducted by the University of MissouriKansas City, Blue Valley is the only district in the nation with more than 20,000 students to achieve this for all 10 years AYP was in existence.

21

2007 2005 Bond election passes $279,980,000 2005-2010 strategic plan launches under Tom Trigg’s leadership

District modifies its logo and tagline, keeping the corn stalk bv to reflect the past, but changing the motto to “Education Beyond Expectations” to better reflect current thoughts and attitudes about the district.

2008

Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) program launched Sunrise Point Elementary opens

Innovating and excelling in a high demand world

While gains in student achievement were tremendous during this time, it was also a decade of innovation.

Born from the strategic plan’s focus on personalized student learning, Blue Valley Schools’ Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) was established in 2008. The innovative program was the first of its kind in the United States and broke the traditional notion of education by combining education and industry, giving students real-world experiences in a professional environment.

According to Donna Deeds, CAPS’ first executive director, Blue Valley was able to “make the impossible possible” by blurring the lines between education and the real world of business to ultimately provide real-world learning opportunities.

The CAPS model has been replicated by multiple school districts nationwide since its inception in Blue Valley and has been endorsed by numerous universities and corporations.

While the CAPS model provided students a non-traditional approach to learning, traditional classrooms within the district continued to expand with growing enrollment during the early 2000s.

22

In 2010, Blue Valley Schools opened its fifth high school, Blue Valley Southwest, to help accommodate the 21,036 students enrolled in the district.

2009 Timber Creek Elementary opens

Principal Scott Roberts recalls the struggle to form a unified student body comprised of a mix of transfer students when opening Blue Valley Southwest.

“We struggled with finding our identity because so many students felt an allegiance to their former school,” Robert said.

But on a crisp fall night, something happened that helped bring the new Blue Valley Southwest community together and define their new identity.

“Out of nowhere our little sophomore-laden football team, down 14 points in the third quarter, came back to upset Blue Valley West and win our first football game,” Roberts said. “That game gave our kids an identity for the first time. It was a night I will never forget.”

23

2010 Blue Valley Southwest opens CAPS building opens 2010-2015 strategic plan is developed

Looking toward the future

At the 50-year mark Blue Valley Schools has grown to encompass five high schools, nine middle schools and 20 elementary schools, all serving more than 22,000 students. In addition, there is an alternative high school, the Blue Valley Academy, the widely-acclaimed CAPS program, and Hilltop Campus, home to the district’s Early Childhood Education program, Parents as Teachers program and a conference center for staff development.

In addition, academic success is at an all-time high with students recording the highest composite ACT and SAT scores in district history. The district’s 50th year also shows students are on their way to being among the world’s leaders in academic achievement based on international test results.

Diana Tate, who was raised in Stilwell, has watched the district evolve from multiple perspectives. Her parents went to Stilwell High School. She went to Stilwell Elementary, Blue Valley Middle and Blue Valley High. She left for college, came back, and says she was lucky enough to teach at Blue Valley High then become a middle school principal.

“What I see that hasn’t changed at all is that kind of community support,” Tate said.

“Everybody pitches in, in every way. I think the biggest piece of Blue Valley is that we’ve grown to this huge district, but we’ve really been able to make it feel small, and feel like this great community, because after all, all we want is for our kids to have the very best.”

And, according to Trigg, the future looks even better.

“We have positive momentum, a great teaching staff, a supportive community, parents with high expectations and students willing to work hard. The future is bright.”

24

2012

2011

Bond election passes $271,285,031

Aubry Bend Middle opens Tom Trigg named “Kansas Superintendent of the Year” and named a national finalist

Former First Family Church is purchased by the district.

2014 Hilltop Campus opens on the site that was formerly First Family Church

2015

New strategic plan, Vision 2020, launches

The focus on personalized student learning has not only guided Blue Valley’s students and staff on their path to success to-date, but also forms the core of the district’s next strategic plan. The future holds many possibilities.

From its humble beginnings as a small school district, to the growth and success the district has experienced throughout its history, Blue Valley Schools is sure to hold a special place in the heart of the community for many years to come.

Enrollment 25,000

Blue Valley School District Official Count Daily Enrollment: 1970-71 to 2015-16

High School Total 20,000

Middle School Total Elementary Total

15,000

10,000

5,000

0

School Year

25

At the Helm Through the Years

James Jim Jim David Tom Al McAnarny March Thompson Benson Trigg Hanna 1965-1968 1968-1974 1974-1993 1993-2004 2004-2015 2015-2016

Board of Education Through the Years 1965-1966

James McAnarney, Superintendent Edmond Young, Chairman Clovis Rice, Vice Chairman Cecil Fisher Burl Slawson John W. (Bill) Warren Ernest Winders, Jr.

1966-1967

James McAnarney, Superintendent Burl Slawson, President Clovis Rice, Vice President Cecil Fisher John W. (Bill) Warren Edwin Weatherford (Appointment effective 7/02/66) Ernest Winders, Jr. Edmond Young (Resigned 7/01/66)

1967-1968

James McAnarney, Superintendent Ernest Winders, Jr., President Cecil Fisher, Vice President Clovis Rice Burl Slawson John W. (Bill) Warren Edwin Weatherford

1968-1969

Jim March, Superintendent Clovis Rice, President John W. (Bill) Warren, Vice President Cecil Fisher Burl Slawson Edwin Weatherford Ernest Winders, Jr.

26

1969-1970

1973-1974

1970-1971

1974-1975

1971-1972

1975-1976

1972-1973

1976-1977

Jim March, Superintendent John W. (Bill) Warren, President Edwin Weatherford, Vice President Cecil Fisher Duane Huitt Bill McBee Jim Neighbors Clovis Rice Jim March, Superintendent John W. (Bill) Warren, President Cecil Fisher, Vice President Jack Forbes Duane Huitt Bill McBee Jim Neighbors Edwin Weatherford Jim March, Superintendent John W. (Bill) Warren, President Cecil Fisher, Vice President Duane Huitt Jack Forbes Bill McBee Jim Neighbors Robert Londerholm Jim March, Superintendent Cecil Fisher, President Jack Forbes, Vice President Duane Huitt Robert Londerholm Bill McBee Jim Neighbors John W. (Bill) Warren

Jim March, Superintendent Bill McBee, President Robert Londerholm, Vice President Bill Dalton Cecil Fisher Dr. John Mozier Jim Neighbors John W. (Bill) Warren James C. Thompson, Superintendent Dr. John Mozier, President Jim Neighbors, Vice President Bill Dalton Cecil Fisher Robert Londerholm Bill McBee John W. (Bill) Warren James C. Thompson, Superintendent Dr. John Mozier, President Dr. Jim Owens, Vice President Bill Dalton Dale Holt Ken Larson Bill McBee L. D. McDonald, Jr. James C. Thompson, Superintendent Dr. Jim Owens, President Dale Holt, Vice President Bill Dalton Ken Larson Bill McBee L. D. McDonald, Jr. Dr. John Mozier

1986-1987

1977-1978

James C. Thompson, Superintendent Dale Holt, President Gerald Wood, Vice President Ken Larson L. D. McDonald, Jr. Sharon McIntyre Dr. John Mozier Dr. Jim Owens

1978-1979

James C. Thompson, Superintendent L. D. Mc Donald, Jr., President Ken Larson, Vice President Dale Holt Sharon McIntyre Dr. John Mozier Dr. Jim Owens Jay Templin (Appointed 3/05/79) Gerald Wood (Resigned 1/08/79)

1979-1980

James C. Thompson, Superintendent Dale Holt, President Sharon McIntyre, Vice President Phil Hendrickson L. D. McDonald, Jr. Dr. John Mozier Bruce Robb Jay Templin

1982-1983

James C. Thompson, Superintendent Phil Hendrickson, President Bruce Robb, Vice President Richard A. Fancher Dale Holt Dr. Ken Huggins L. D. McDonald, Jr. Jay Templin

1983-1984

James C. Thompson, Superintendent Bruce Robb, President Dr. Ken Huggins, Vice President Mack Colt Richard A. Fancher Dale Holt Jay Templin Anne Whitfill

1984-1985

James C. Thompson, Superintendent Sharon McIntyre, President Jay Templin, Vice President Phil Hendrickson Dale Holt L. D. McDonald, Jr. Dr. John Mozier Bruce Robb

James C. Thompson, Superintendent Jay Templin, President Richard A. Fancher, Vice President Mack Colt Mac Holland (Appointment effective 12/10/84) Dale Holt (Resigned 10/08/84) Dr. Ken Huggins Bruce Robb Anne Whitfill

1981-1982

1985-1986

1980-1981

James C. Thompson, Superintendent Jay Templin, President Bruce Robb, Vice President Richard A. Fancher Phil Hendrickson Dale Holt Dr. Ken Huggins L. D. McDonald, Jr.

James C. Thompson, Superintendent Bruce Robb, President Anne Whitfill, Vice President Donnie Byers Mack Colt Matt Grogger Mac Holland Dr. Douglas W. Pearson

James C. Thompson, Superintendent Mac Holland, President Matt Grogger, Vice President Donnie Byers Mack Colt Dr. Douglas W. Pearson Anne (Whitfill) Vratil Bruce Robb

1987-1988

James C. Thompson, Superintendent Matt Grogger, President Donnie Byers, Vice President Patrick J. Cocherl Richard A. Fancher Mac Holland Dr. Douglas W. Pearson Kathie Walter

1988-1989

James C. Thompson, Superintendent Dr. Douglas W. Pearson, President Richard A. Fancher, Vice President Donnie Byers Patrick J. Cocherl Matt Grogger Mac Holland Kathie Walter

1989-1990

James C. Thompson, Superintendent Dr. Douglas W. Pearson, President Richard A. Fancher, Vice President Patrick J. Cocherl Matt Grogger Mac Holland Paul Tebbe Kathie Walter

1990-1991

James C. Thompson, Superintendent Patrick J. Cocherl, President Richard A. Fancher, Vice President Matt Grogger Mac Holland Dr. Douglas W. Pearson Paul Tebbe Kathie Walter

27

Board of Education Through the Years, Continued 1991-1992

James C. Thompson, Superintendent Patrick J. Cocherl, President Matt Grogger, Vice President Mac Holland Sherry Obringer Dr. Douglas W. Pearson Paul Tebbe Kathie Walter

1992-1993

James C. Thompson, Superintendent Matt Grogger, President Dr. Douglas W. Pearson, Vice President Patrick J. Cocherl Mac Holland Sherry Obringer Paul Tebbe Kathie Walter

1993-1994

David L. Benson, Superintendent Matt Grogger, President Patrick J. Cocherl, Vice President Mac Holland Sherry Obringer K. O. Strohbehn Kathie Walter Mark Ward

1994-1995

David L. Benson, Superintendent Patrick J. Cocherl, President Sherry Obringer, Vice President Matt Grogger Mac Holland K. O. Strohbehn Kathie Walter Mark Ward

28

1995-1996

2000-2001

1996-1997

2001-2002

1997-1998

2002-2003

1998-1999

2003-2004

David L. Benson, Superintendent Sherry Obringer, President K. O. Strohbehn, Vice President Nikki Copp Matt Grogger Marsha Dixon Monica Robert D. Regnier Mark Ward David L. Benson, Superintendent K. O. Strohbehn, President Mark Ward, Vice President Nikki Copp Matt Grogger Marsha Dixon Monica Sherry Obringer Robert D. Regnier David L. Benson, Superintendent K. O. Strohbehn, President Robert D. Regnier, Vice President Susan Asner Nikki Copp Marsha Dixon Monica Sherry Obringer Sheryl Spalding David L. Benson, Superintendent Robert D. Regnier, President Nikki Copp, Vice President Susan Asner Marsha Dixon Monica Sherry Obringer Sheryl Spalding K. O. Strohbehn

1999-2000

David L. Benson, Superintendent Robert D. Regnier, President Nikki Copp, Vice President Susan Asner John Fuller Marsha Dixon Monica Sheryl Spalding K. O. Strohbehn

David L. Benson, Superintendent Nikki Copp, President Marsha Dixon Monica, Vice President Susan Asner John Fuller Robert D. Regnier Sheryl Spalding K. O. Strohbehn David L. Benson, Superintendent Nikki Copp, President Marsha Dixon Monica, Vice President Susan Asner John Fuller Cal Kleinmann Robert D. Regnier Sheryl Spalding David L. Benson, Superintendent Sheryl Spalding, President John Fuller, Vice President Susan Asner Nikki Copp Cal Kleinmann Marsha Dixon Monica Robert D. Regnier David L. Benson, Superintendent John Fuller, President Susan Asner, Vice President Nikki Copp Lori Hisle Clinton O. Robinson Pam Robinson Sheryl Spalding

2004-2005

2008-2009

2005-2006

2009-2010

Tom Trigg, Superintendent Tony Thill, President Pam Robinson, Vice President Cindy Bowling Steve Klika (Resigned effective 2/11/13) Tom Mitchell Sue Matson Mike Seitz Stacy Obringer-Varhall (Appointed February 2013)

2010-2011

Tom Trigg, Superintendent Pam Robinson, President Mike Seitz, Vice President Cindy Bowling Tom Mitchell Sue Matson Tony Thill Stacy Obringer-Varhall

Tom Trigg, Superintendent John Fuller, President Lori Hisle, Vice President Susan Asner Nikki Copp Clinton O. Robinson Pam Robinson Sheryl Spalding Tom Trigg, Superintendent Lori Hisle, President Clint Robinson, Vice President Dan French John Fuller Steve Klika Sue Matson Pam Robinson

2006-2007

Tom Trigg, Superintendent Lori Hisle, President Clint Robinson, Vice President John Fuller Sue Matson Pam Robinson Steve Klika Dan French

2007-2008

Tom Trigg, Superintendent Clint Robinson, President Steve Klika, Vice President Lori Hisle Sue Matson Pam Robinson Tony Thill Dan French

Tom Trigg, Superintendent Clint Robinson, President Steve Klika, Vice President Lori Hisle Sue Matson Pam Robinson Tony Thill Dan French Tom Trigg, Superintendent Steve Klika, President Sue Matson, Vice President Lori Hisle Clint Robinson Pam Robinson Tony Thill Dan French Tom Trigg, Superintendent Steve Klika, President Sue Matson, Vice President Lori Hisle Clint Robinson Pam Robinson Tony Thill Dan French (Resigned effective 11/30/2010) Mike Seitz (Appointed 12/13/2010 – June 30, 2011)

2011-2012

Tom Trigg, Superintendent Sue Matson, President Tony Thill, Vice President Cindy Bowling Steve Klika Tom Mitchell Pam Robinson Mike Seitz

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Tom Trigg, Superintendent Pam Robinson, President Mike Seitz, Vice President Cindy Bowling Tom Mitchell Sue Matson Tony Thill Stacy Obringer-Varhall

2015-2016

Al Hanna, Interim Superintendent Mike Seitz, President Stacy Obringer-Varhall, Vice President Cindy Bowling Tom Mitchell Sue Matson Patrick Hurley Stacy Obringer-Varhall