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DeMaree plans to redefine spaces for a brighter future

New renovations and projects will change classrooms and to amplify student learning.

Renovations and changes are being planned out for both student and teacher spaces. Not only are there some big changes on the way, but principal Dr. Sean DeMaree hopes the small ones will impact everyone too. 

“You could literally walk our halls for 8 hours a day and never know you were at Olathe South High School,” DeMaree said. 

The hallways contain gray and beige paint that DeMaree thinks makes it hard for visitors to differentiate what school they are at.

“You can be here and it is almost like a movie set for a high school movie or any high school, [all you have to do is] just change the sign in front of the building to say ‘Riverdale High School’ and all of a sudden we are Riverdale High School,” DeMaree said. 

DeMaree has concerns about the lack of pride and spirit that students, parents, and community have for the school. 

“Our South side of the community has not been super proud of our school in recent years. And so I’m trying to bring that pride back, not just for our students and teachers, but for the parents and the grandparents and the business owners to say, ‘Yeah, I live in the South side of Olathe’,” DeMaree said. 

Pride is a huge thing to DeMaree and for him to see the absence of student’s pride for the school, makes him more motivated to enact change. 

 “I want that pride to not just be with what we say and what we do, but also when you walk in this building, this is our house, and you’re walking into and I want you to know you’re in Falcon Nation now,” DeMaree said.

DeMaree’s students mean the most to him and so he will try his best to accommodate his students’ needs with what he has. 

“To me, students are everything, and my students come first in everything that I do. And so whatever funds that were allotted from our district for renovations, I want as much of that to go to our students as possible,” DeMaree said. 

One thing that DeMaree wishes to change is the furniture that students sit in due to the discomfort it brings to the student body.

 “I think the biggest change for students is going to be student furniture. Those triangular blue chairs are ungodly uncomfortable and they break so easily, and I don’t like sitting in them so I don’t imagine many students do,” DeMaree said.

The furniture that students sit in everyday impacts how engaged they are within the classroom. 

“If you’re sitting in a chair and you’re worried about it breaking, then you’re spending half of your time learning, worried about a chair breaking, when you should be able to sit and listen to your teacher and learn,” DeMaree said. 

DeMaree hopes that one small change to the furniture in the classrooms will help students feel more comfortable in their learning spaces.  

 “It doesn’t matter what size you are, how tall or short you are, the furniture should be comfortable for you to sit in if you’re someone who needs to move,” DeMaree said.

Not only are student spaces being changed, but DeMaree is also changing spaces for teachers to help them educate their students.

“I do want to give some investment to our teachers’ spaces, into the furniture they’re using and the supplies they’re using, so that they can be more confident, more comfortable in their work, which then translates better for our kids,” DeMaree said. 

Some of the classrooms within the school have not been updated since the early 2000s, so DeMaree plans on revamping these spaces. 

“If you visit our science and our art classrooms, those are two spaces where you can tell it lacks some love. Those are spaces I do see a large investment going into of actually updating them and getting them to look like a classroom of the 21st century, and not 1981,” DeMaree said. 

One of DeMaree’s small-scale plans is currently underway. Students and teachers have already seen a slight change since the beginning of the year but there is more to come. 

We’re actually going to go back and every hallway is going to get a feature wall that will feature an Olathe South logo. And I’m going to try to use every single logo our school has ever had, from 1981 to current, which is a total of 13 different logos,” DeMaree said. 

Another small change that DeMaree is implementing is that the tables in the commons during lunch and for other events are going to be replaced. 

“Here in the next few months, we are getting all new commons furniture so the tables will go away and they’re being replaced with blue and gold tables that are also easier for our custodians to move,” DeMaree said. 

DeMaree is also giving the school publications new spaces to develop their content. 

“I will tell you that both journalism and video production are two programs I’m extremely proud of, so [I am] investing in [them].  We took over [a] room for journalism to give them two spaces to work in, and we’re redoing our video production classroom,” DeMaree said. 

The biggest renovation DeMaree has planned for this school year is redoing the library entirely. 

“It will get completely gutted and redone, and that’s going to start fourth quarter of this year. So fourth quarter this year, our library will be closed, and we’ll be looking at a temporary library in another classroom,” DeMaree said. 

DeMaree acknowledges that this will put a hindrance in many student’s and teacher’s schedules, but a temporary solution will be put in place until renovations are done. 

“It won’t be as big, [and] it won’t be as useful, so that will [have] an impact on both our students and teachers. But it’ll be done by August of next school year. It’s one quarter of pain and struggle so that we can come back in August and be super ready and pumped to start school,” DeMaree said. 

DeMaree’s colleagues from other schools are commencing with similar changes to their library spaces. 

“All four high schools, other than Olathe West, are getting the library innovations that were approved by our community and by the board for all of us to get, so we’re all [currently] working on that,” DeMaree said. 

  Some changes that DeMaree has made for the school have been done to individualize the school from others. 

“The sign out front of the building was a South decision, that was not a district decision. So that was us deciding that investing in what was important for us and important for our school,” DeMaree said.

The process of renovating a school can be long and tedious, starting with the small things to get to the bigger projects. DeMaree is well aware of this and the frustrations that will come with it. 

“It’s a painstaking process to renovate a building, both in terms of the designs and coming up with what it’s going to look like. Then also, for me as principal, it’s a lot of stress working with the community and the district to finance everything,” DeMaree said. 

It is important to DeMaree that the things that need to be replaced are changed first. Even if money is an issue, DeMaree plans to manage a way to obtain the things the school needs. 

“If I want things to get done faster than waiting for the next bond from the district or [if] there’s something that really needs to be replaced, like right now we’re exploring new microscopes for the science department, I know that’s not going to be covered [by] the district. Therefore I have to find a way to finance that myself with our school budget,” DeMaree said. 

The funding for renovations takes time, even though many renovations need to be made, it is a difficult task to meet everyone’s wants and needs with what DeMaree is given. 

“I’m still working [with] the district to get funds secured, and that’s kind of a long process. Both with looking at the funds the district currently has and then what we call a bond issue, and that’s the taxes that our community pays to the schools,” DeMaree said. 

DeMaree’s overall end goal for the school, whether he makes small changes or big ones, he wants to impact students in the best way possible and boost pride for all students. 

“My hope is for our students, they see that as their principal, I really, truly do care about them enough. I even care about the building. It’s not just about the kids, it’s not just about the classes. I want you to have the best space to learn in,” DeMaree said. 

 

UNDER

construction


Changes are occurring within the school. The main areas that are going to get changed the most will be the art classrooms, and science classrooms circa 2003. The library is also going to get a makeover later this year during the 4th quarter. Falcon Brew will be moved into that space, and other collaborative spaces will be added as well. A temporary library will be set up in a space that will still be accessible to students but will be significantly smaller than what the library currently is. Another expected change that will be occurring sometime later in semester two or the summer of 2025 is the walls will be getting fully finished and murals will be added throughout the hallways. The murals will consist of previous mascots from the span of 1981 to present.

Above: Top image shows the different areas/sectors of the school.

Below: Areas of the school that will be under renovations

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