In this episode, we dive into Blue Valley’s 2020-2025 Strategic Plan, examining the district's progress and impact. We'll highlight advancements in student support, including mental health first aid training and social-emotional learning initiatives. The discussion also covers the district's commitment to staff wellbeing, professional learning and achievements in literacy and math. Hear from Deputy Superintendent Dr. Katie Collier, Director of Human Resources – Recruitment & Retention Dr. Ke...
May 19, 2025•28 min
Our #BVUnmuted series continues with a focus with an update on the district's personal electronic device policy. Blue Valley Superintendent Dr. Tonya Merrigan is joined by Blue Valley North Principal Dr. Tyson Ostroski, Executive Director of School Administration Scott Roberts and Blue Valley North Social Studies Teacher Jeff Breedlove. #BVTogether
Apr 08, 2025•20 min
Our #BVUnmuted series continues with a focus with an update on the approved 2023 Bond. Blue Valley Superintendent Dr. Tonya Merrigan is joined by Executive Director of Operations Jake Slobodnik, Director of Safety and Security Dan Carney, and Senior Coordinator of Digital Resources Liz Chopp. #BVTogether
Mar 03, 2025•18 min
Our #BVUnmuted series continues with a focus on the impact of our teachers in the Blue Valley Schools. Blue Valley Superintendent Dr. Tonya Merrigan is joined by three Blue Valley Schools students, Caroline, Arianna and Maverick to discuss the positive impact that our teachers have on their students.
Feb 03, 2025•21 min
Our #BVUnmuted series continues with a focus on the Blue Valley legislative priorities. Blue Valley Superintendent Dr. Tonya Merrigan is joined by School Board President Gina Knapp, Vice President Jan Kessinger, and Chief Financial Officer Jeremy McFadden to discuss these priorities in the upcoming legislative session. #BVTogether
Jan 06, 2025•22 min
Our #BVUnmuted series continues with a focus on school attendance. Blue Valley Superintendent Dr. Tonya Merrigan is joined by principals Leah Vomhof, Stacey Sperry and Dr. Cory Cox to discuss the why attendance matters. #BVTogether
Nov 05, 2024•21 min
Our #BVUnmuted series continues with a focus on school safety, understanding threats and their consequences. Dr. Katie Collier, deputy superintendent for learning, is joined by Interim Chief Simon Happer (Overland Park Police Department) and Dan Carney (Director of Safety & Security) to discuss how Blue Valley ensures a safe and secure environment for our students and staff. Remember that if you see something, report it! Don’t repost it. 📵 #BVTogether
Oct 03, 2024•23 min
Join Blue Valley Chief Communications Officer Kristi McNerlin and Deputy Superintendent Dr. Katie Collier as we follow up on an earlier discussion about plan and collaboration time in our elementary schools. #BVTogether
Mar 07, 2024•22 min
Our #BVUnmuted podcast series continues with a focus on mental health support across our district and community. 🧠🩺💙 Dr. Merrigan is joined by Dr. Mindy Wells (Student Support Services), Tim Deweese (Johnson County Mental Health Center) and Karen Mulligan (Children’s Mercy) to discuss how our district works with community organizations and professionals to best serve our students and families. #BVTogether
Mar 04, 2024•17 min
Our #BVUnmuted podcast series continues with a focus on plan and collaboration time at the elementary school level. February Host & Guests Amy Farthing (Executive Director of School Admin, K-5) Dr. Katie Collier (Deputy Superintendent) Shelly Krull (3rd Grade Teacher, Aspen Grove Elem.) Kathleen Cigich (Principal at Lakewood Elem. and BV Parent) The district will be seeking feedback on this topic from elementary staff and families with elementary students in the 2024-25 school year. #BVToget...
Feb 09, 2024•19 min
Our #BVUnmuted podcast series continues with a focus on updated graduation requirements across the district! 🎧🎓📚 Join host Dr. Tonya Merrigan along with guests Scott Roberts (Exec. Director of School Admin) and Dr. Anne Kastelic (Asst. Principal, BVSW) as the group talks through some of the changes and how they will positively impact students in the future. #ChampionsOfLearning
Jan 11, 2024•12 min
Join host Dr. Tonya Merrigan as our #BVUnmuted series continues with a focus on academic success in Blue Valley! Guests Kelly Ott and Adam Wade from Academic Services discuss what success looks like in classrooms at the elementary, middle and high school levels. #ChampionsOfLearning
Nov 07, 2023•25 min
Join host Amy Farthing as we discuss the kindergarten experience for students, teachers and families in Blue Valley! Guests: Christy Taylor , Indian Valley Elementary teacher with close to 40 years experience teaching kindergarten Hannah Battleson , IVE parent of a current kindergarten student and former educator Ayla Battleson , current IVE kindergartener in Mrs. Taylor's class Listen in as Amy, Christy, Hannah and Ayla talk about the exciting parts of kindergarten, challenges and helpful tips ...
Apr 26, 2023•19 min
Join host Dr. Tonya Merrigan as she talks with Susan Tideman (Executive Director) and Lisa Austin (Communications Manager) from the Blue Valley Educational Foundation. Hear about some of BVEF's upcoming events, exciting fundraisers and learn how you can make an impact on our schools, staff members and community. #BVTogether
Mar 23, 2023•12 min
"One of the things that I hope people are hearing is how much planning and thought goes in to decisions around inclement weather... safety is really what we're looking at. We know it's an inconvenience if we have to cancel school, but if it's not safe to come to school because of the weather, we're going to cancel every single time." - Dr. Tonya Merrigan, Superintendent You might have heard the saying "If you don't like the weather in Kansas, wait a few minutes." The unpredictability of the KC c...
Jan 13, 2023•9 min•Season 5Ep. 5
"It's amazing the number of cyber attacks that come in from outside. We've weathered those very well and it's because we have great systems and up-to-date equipment... Bond funds allow us to refresh this technology, ensure a high level of access for our kids, and maintain our network systems so it's a safe experience." - Kelly Ott, Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Innovation Technology is everywhere. And here at Blue Valley Schools, keeping our technology safe and accessible is a priority...
Jan 06, 2023•15 min•Season 5Ep. 4
"We try to make all our security measures work together - put them together like a puzzle - so they offer the best protection for our students and staff." - Dan Carney, Director of Safety and Security There is no single safety measure that will keep Blue Valley safe. But there are many layers of security that, when used effectively, can continue to reduce the risk of injury and violence. This episode about Bond 2023 deals with safety, as Chief Communications Officer Kristi McNerlin talks with Di...
Nov 14, 2022•22 min•Season 5Ep. 3
"I think most people are surprised when they hear that the average age of Blue Valley buildings is 29 years... If you have owned a home, you've probably had to replace a roof or an air conditioner... This bond helps us do that." Jake Slobodnik, Executive Director of Operations As Blue Valley grows and our buildings age, we need to find ways to build new schools and fix existing facilities. Bond 2023 is a chance to make this happen. In this episode, Chief Communications Officer Kristi McNerlin br...
Nov 03, 2022•17 min•Season 5Ep. 2
"When you walk in to Leawood Elementary, you're going to see so many familiar faces because it's our parents who have stepped up and are in here helping us day after day." - Jenny Hayes, principal at Leawood Elementary It's one thing to build a school building, but it's an entirely different task to build a school community and culture. In our first BV Unmuted podcast of the 2022-23 school year, Superintendent Dr. Tonya Merrigan asks three of our rockstar principals - Leawood Elementary's Jenny ...
Oct 13, 2022•14 min•Season 5Ep. 1
"I'm looking forward to meeting my new teachers and classmates... and I'm also looking forward to my elective classes and joining clubs in middle school." - Amber Gao, 5th grade student For many students, the end of the school year is also the end of an era. Our 5th grade and 8th grade kiddos will be moving up to middle school and high school, while our 12th graders will be moving on to new adventures outside of the district. In our final episode of the BV unmuted 2021-22 season, Superintendent ...
Jun 02, 2022•10 min•Season 4Ep. 8
"I think the lifeblood of our school system is the athletics and activities side of things... it's an important aspect of the development of our kids. It's learning how to work with others and have big wins or big defeats because that's life. We're teaching them life lessons on a daily basis." - Anthony Orrick, head football coach at BVSW. Athletics and activities provide opportunities to nearly 75 percent of the entire student population in Blue Valley high schools and thousands of middle schoo...
Apr 19, 2022•17 min•Season 4Ep. 7
"I get to see my fifth graders every single day... and that means they retain what we do really well. I had a fifth grader tell me 'I just want you to know that I look forward to this class all day!' and I replied 'Well, that's really cool, because we get to do it again tomorrow!'" - Michael Arbucci, strings teacher Blue Valley’s performing arts program is one place where students can find a home. It has multiple arms including band, orchestra (strings), choir, theater, debate and competitive sp...
Mar 21, 2022•28 min•Season 4Ep. 6
"We need to be careful to be consumers of technology, but not let technology consume us." - Heather Jones, Blue Valley parent The internet is a wonderful place for learning and entertainment, but like the world around us, it can pose dangers if precautions are not taken. Through digital citizenship, Blue Valley students learn how to responsibly use technology to learn anytime, anywhere, and how to stay safe while doing so. In this episode of BV unmuted, Executive Director of Curriculum, Instruct...
Feb 16, 2022•25 min•Season 4Ep. 5
The Learning Connection will be a resource for all families, from those with children entering early learning to those with graduating seniors. The resource allows Blue Valley to engage with the community on a regular basis and serve as an additional platform to expand families’ knowledge about the district’s learning and teaching initiatives and operations. In this episode of BV unmuted, Executive Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Innovation Kelly Ott visits with Director of Career-Ready ...
Jan 21, 2022•19 min•Season 4Ep. 4
"I think with all of the arts, it's learning to perform and to handle performance anxiety, which is a natural anxiety to have... that's normal. So normalizing that anxiety and having a professional who knows how to help you with that and coach you through that. That's an amazing skill to have because we all face that in life." - Janelle Brower, Performing Arts Coordinator In this episode of BV unmuted, Superintendent Dr. Tonya Merrigan talks all things "arts" with Speech and Drama teacher Reed U...
Dec 02, 2021•14 min•Season 4Ep. 3
"This is a year, if you will, of recovery. There may be times that our curriculum calls for certain skills to be taught. But we may realize... that our students aren't quite ready for that content. We're trying to communicate the need to slow down and back up." - Dr. Katie Collier, Deputy Superintendent. Sometimes, it's important to slow down before you speed up. This is especially important in addressing the needs of Blue Valley students as they recover from the effects of the pandemic. In this...
Oct 26, 2021•15 min•Season 4Ep. 2
"Quite frankly, I've worked in this community for 30 years and I've never seen anything like it - people coming together, for a common cause, led by students." - Tim DeWeese, Director of Johnson County Mental Health Center. Our 2021-22 season of BV unmuted starts off with one of the most important topics out there - student mental health. Blue Valley seniors and #ZeroReasonsWhy members Anna Hamilton and Esha Parikh join Director of Johnson County Mental Health Center Tim DeWeese and Blue Valley ...
Sep 20, 2021•15 min•Season 4Ep. 1
"I'm excited to get everybody back for sporting events and all that stuff. I'm really excited to get back to the normalcy of school. I feel like everyone deserves to have that high school experience." - Gage Roach, junior at Blue Valley West. We close out our third season of the Blue Valley Schools podcast with a look back at a school year unlike any other. Three BV high school students - BVNW senior Emma Johnson, BVW junior Gage Roach, and BVSW senior Karthik Sathish - join Superintendent Dr. T...
May 17, 2021•18 min•Season 3Ep. 7
"With COVID-19, you get exposed and may not have symptoms for up to 14 days. You can spend 14 days potentially exposing everyone wherever you go. With the flu, often times it's only 2 days from when you get exposed to when you show symptoms and get sick." - Jenna Miller, MD, FAAP We've had a lot of questions from our listeners about the differences between COVID-19 and the seasonal flu. In this episode, we answer a lot of those questions. Blue Valley's Dr. Chris Jenson is joined by Jenna Miller,...
Jan 05, 2021•30 min•Season 3Ep. 6
"We've had a lot of great questions from our parents, students and staff regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and these questions are important... We wanted to hit them head-on and share the results with you." - Dr. Chris Jenson, Blue Valley Medical Consultant When circumstances are changing fast, sometimes you've got to change gears. That's why we've teamed up with Blue Valley's very own Dr. Chris Jenson in a podcast series we're calling "On Call with Doc. J." Dr. Jenson is a former ER doctor, a Blu...
Nov 25, 2020•23 min•Season 3Ep. 5
