The now-vacant Hilltop Elementary School near Olathe may welcome students again as early as next year as a private school run by the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.
The Archdiocese intends to buy the 4.5-acre property at 16740 W. 175th St. and offer kindergarten through eighth grade education for up to 200 students there.
As many as 70 students are anticipated to enroll in pre-kindergarten through third grade in 2025.
According to county records, the church estimates adding 15 students per year as other grades are added.
The proposal is now making its way through the county planning process. A conditional use permit received the county commission’s unanimous blessing last Thursday, with little discussion.
Hilltop served Spring Hill School District for 50+ years
Hilltop Elementary was built in 1951 by the Spring Hill School District.
Additions and expanded parking were built in the mid 1990s. The school closed in 2007 but has been used for storage and other district-related uses since.
The school remains in the unincorporated part of the county but is adjacent to Olathe city limits on three sides.
The city of Olathe has plans to eventually annex the school, according to the county’s staff notes.
Once approved, the school would be run by St. John Paul II Parish in Olathe.
It would operate on a traditional August-to-May academic year, with school drop-off from 7:35 a.m. to 7:50 a.m. and pickups from 3:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Parish offices on the site would be open year-round from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 8 a.m. to noon on Friday.
The parish is the newest in the archdiocese and is growing
The proposal got initial approval from the East Consolidated Zoning Board last month.
At that meeting, the Rev. Brandon Farrar of St. John Paul II Catholic Church in Olathe explained that starting a school in the existing building will help as the parish grows.
St. John Paul II Parish has only been in existence since 2016 and is the Archdiocese’s newest parish, he told the board.
Parishioners began raising money for a school in 2019, but things slowed dramatically with the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by building cost increases, he said.
“This school has been a godsend for us,” Farrar said.
The idea is to eventually build a new school
The Hilltop building will allow the parish to get a school started and growing before it eventually builds a new school on church land near Ridgeview Road and 168th Street, Farrar said.
He said the church intends to be at Hilltop for ten to fifteen years before that happens.
No one from the public spoke at the county commission meeting, but there were a few questions at the East zoning board about lighting and traffic.
Two neighbors said they were supportive of the school but had questions about the traffic flow because of the nearness to the 157-acre Hilltop Farms development.
