Margaret Mellott

2 months ago | johnsoncountypost.com | Margaret Mellott

Blue Valley Schools is adding a dozen social workers to its schools, the latest step in the district’s years-long efforts to address student mental health. The Blue Valley Board of Education last week approved adding 12 bachelor’s-level social workers to 12 schools in the district, under the Kansas Mental Health Intervention Team grant.

2 months ago | johnsoncountypost.com | Margaret Mellott

While it appeared Martha Stewart pulled some very impressive dance moves during her Skechers Super Bowl commercial, two professional dancers were behind those moves, including Olathe West graduate Kaden Potter. Both Potter and fellow dancer Brett Kessler were featured in the ad, with Stewart superimposed over their bodies. So while it looked like Stewart, the dancing was done by Potter and Kessler.

2 months ago | johnsoncountypost.com | Margaret Mellott

Two key sections of Lone Elm Road in Olathe are primed for major upgrades. The Olathe City Council voted 5-0 last month to approve spending more than $32 million on two separate projects along the thoroughfare. The projects include adding turn lanes on Lone Elm between 119th and Harold Streets and expanding Lone Elm between 159th and 167th Streets from two lanes to four. Councilmembers Kevin Gilmore and Matthew Schoonover were absent from the meeting on Jan. 21 when the vote as taken.

2 months ago | johnsoncountypost.com | Margaret Mellott

Starting in fall 2026, students living in neighborhoods surrounding Aubry Bend Middle School near 179th Street and Quivira Road in the Blue Valley School District will attend the new Wolf Springs Middle School being built nearby. Earlier this month, the Blue Valley Board of Education approved by a 6-1 vote the boundary change. Board member Jim McMullen cast the lone vote against the measure.

Jan 14, 2025 | johnsoncountypost.com | Margaret Mellott

Olathe Public Schools began the 2024-25 academic year with a new bell schedule for all of its building. Olathe administrators recently highlighted the positives of the new bell schedule, while also addressing the challenges in a presentation Thursday night at the Olathe Public Schools Board of Education meeting. The district implemented the changes in the fall in response to bus driver shortages, Superintendent Brent Yeager has said.