Olathe West High School

Olathe West High School
Olathe West High School
Address
	2200 W. Santa Fe; Olathe, Kansas 66061
Coordinates	38.8851°N 94.8546°W
Information
School type	Public, High School
Opened	Fall 2017
School district	Olathe USD 233 [1]
CEEB code	170010[2]
Principal	Jay Novacek
Teaching staff	87.45 (FTE)[3]
Grades	9 to 12
Enrollment	1320 (2018–19)[3]
Student to teacher ratio	15.20[3]
Campus type	Suburban
Color(s)	Royal Blue, Silver and White;
Athletics conference	Sunflower League
Mascot	Owen the Owl
Newspaper	The Owl Post[4]
Feeder schools	Mission Trail Middle School, Oregon Trail Middle School
Website	School Website

Olathe West High School is a public high school located in Olathe, Kansas, United States, serving students in grades 9–12. The school is one of five high schools in the Olathe USD 233 school district. The school colors are royal blue, silver, and navy, and the school mascot is the Owl.[5]

History

Olathe West was established in 2017 to help educate the rapidly increasing population of Olathe. Being the fifth high school within the Olathe School District, it was designed using architecturally advanced techniques to create an innovative and futuristic learning environment for its students.

Academics

Spanning 375,000 square feet, Olathe West's three-story school focuses on the use of technology, open, modular learning spaces, efficiency and collaboration among students. A centrally-located learning commons provides student gathering and education collaboration spaces that connect to the entire building. The school is designed with four wings, or communities, where students will attend classes. The building also includes a media center, performing arts center, gymnasiums and practice fields for athletics.

The main auditorium has 789 seats (including retractable seating.) The school also has a 200-square-foot rooftop greenhouse and 60 planting boxes on the growing wall next to the main library on the first floor. The school also features 32 conference rooms.

As Olathe West High School focuses on "Project Based Learning", it has eight maker spaces that include 3-D printers. Four satellite-libraries are located in the student communities, overlooking the main first-floor library.

Olathe West also offers 2 of the 21st Century Academies offered in the Olathe School District. The school offers the Public Safety and Green Tech academies.[6]

Extracurricular activities

Olathe West is a member of the Kansas State High School Activities Association and offers a variety of sports programs. Extracurricular activities are also offered in the form of performing arts, school publications, and clubs.

Athletics

Soccer, Boys

One of the most popular athletic programs offered at Olathe West is soccer. Boys soccer won the Kansas state championship this on Saturday, November 9th, 2019 against Blue Valley West with a score of 2-1. The first goal was scored by junior Henry Curnow and the second by senior Jony Munoz. For a new school and program this was a great feat for not just the team, but the entire school.[7]

Bowling

All schools have to start somewhere, and for Olathe West it was getting their first ever individual state title in bowling when Michael Anderson won in 2019. Also, not every school has their bowling team training in the weight room.

Wrestling

A winter sport which is gaining more and more traction every year, with 2019's women’s state tournament being a historic event, not only because it was the first in Kansas, but also because we got the first state placer in Owls wrestling history, freshman Makayla Rivera at the 235-pound weight class ending with an overall second place state finish.[8]

List of all other Athletics

Baseball
Basketball, Boys
Basketball, Girls
Cross Country
Football
Golf, Boys
Golf, Girls
Gymnastics
Soccer, Girls
Softball
Swimming and Diving
Tennis, Boys
Tennis, Girls
Track and Field
Volleyball

State championships

State Championships
Season	Sport	Number of Championships	Year
Fall	Soccer, Boys	1	2019
Total		1

Non-athletic programs

Band

The Olathe West band program includes over one hundred students. There are two concert ensembles: the Concert Band, Symphonic Band the latter forming the marching band during the fall. The schools' marching band has performed at football and school spirit assemblies. Their field shows have been "Words" (2018) and "The Suite Life" (2019). Olathe West also includes a Jazz Band as well as voluntary Percussion Ensembles and PEP Band for Basketball games.

List of all other Non-athletics Programs

Art Club
Cheer
Dance Team
Debate / Forensics
DECA
Future Teachers
Hispanic Leadership Club
Link Leaders
Orchestra
O.W.L.S. - Olathe West Leadership Squad
Theatre
The Owl Post
StuCo - Student Council
Yearbook

Honor Societies

National Honor Society
Rho Kappa - National Social Studies Honor Society

Fight Song

Oh, there is no place like Olathe / Dear Old Olathe West

Our teams are the toughest / And we fight the roughest / We're home of the Silver and Blue!