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.
The change will require students in the Aspen Grove and Wolf Springs Elementary attendance areas, who are currently zoned to attend Aubry Bend Middle, to go to the new Wolf Springs Middle School when it opens for the 2026-27 school year.
“None of these [boundary changes] are ever easy,” said Deputy Superintendent Kyle Hayden to the board during its meeting on Monday, Jan. 13. “We’re talking about students, families and staff. We’re talking about people.”
Despite the near-unanimous vote, multiple school board members also voiced their reservations with the plan.
“I don’t love it either, but I think that based on the current projections for enrollment, this is the best solution we have,” said Board President Gina Knapp.
What the boundary change means
The move impacts students who attend the four elementary schools in the Blue Valley Southwest High School feeder pattern.
Students at all four elementary schools are currently zoned to attend Aubry Bend Middle, the only middle school that, at the moment, feeds into BV Southwest High.
With the change, starting in the 2026-27 school year:
- students who reside in the Morse Elementary and Timber Creek Elementary attendance areas will continue to attend Aubry Bend Middle,
- students who reside in the Aspen Grove and Wolf Springs elementary attendance areas will attend the new Wolf Springs Middle.
Here is a link to the district’s presentation on the boundary change.
Below is a copy of the new boundary map laying out the attendance zones for the two middle schools:

Dealing with growing enrollment
Construction of Wolf Springs Middle will give the BV Southwest feeder pattern two middle schools to handle what is expected to be growing enrollment in that area of far southern Overland Park.
Aspen Grove Elementary is the district’s newest school, opening in fall 2023. And more growth in that area is expected in the coming years.
District data shows that if Wolf Springs Middle were not to open, enrollment at Aubry Bend Middle — already at 814 for the current school year — would increase steadily to more than 900 students in five years.
With the opening of the new middle school blocks away, enrollment for Aubry Bend Middle is now projected to be 491 for the 2026-27 school year. Meanwhile, enrollment at the new Wolf Springs Middle is forecast to be 352 that year.
Parents, board member concerned
The board this month approved the boundary change following the district Facility Planning Committee’s recommendation.
That committee recommended the boundary change plan by a 17-0 vote (with two committee members absent) at its November meeting.
Still, some parents expressed dissatisfaction with the plan.
“Overall, I’m disappointed,” said Jennifer Mockler, parent of an Aspen Grove student affected by the change. “I wish at the very least, this would have been sent back to the community for more collaborative input.
“A lot of feedback on the online forms were concerns about Aspen Grove Elementary and the houses surrounding Aubry Bend and the fact that we’re losing that walkability,” Mockler added.
According to the redrawn maps, none of the students attending Aubry Bend Middle School starting in the 2026-27 school year will live immediately around the school. Families taking their students to Aubry Bend will also have to pass through neighborhoods where families will be trying to get to Wolf Springs Middle.
“It’s going to create a traffic mess in the mornings and people are criss-crossing each other trying to get to the various middle schools,” Mockler said.
Board member McMullen echoed those concerns at the Jan. 13 meeting.
“I’m not going to support this,” McMullen said. “I feel like it’s not a great option. I don’t like having non-walkability when you’ve got future neighborhoods that are going to grow up. Eventually, there are going to be sidewalks there and we don’t necessarily know where the developers are going to go and build.”
Board President Knapp admitted that wasn’t ideal, either.
“I hate that the middle school, that Aubry Bend, doesn’t have anybody going to it that lives around it,” Knapp said.
Another boundary change option discussed would have assigned Morse and Aspen Grove elementary schools to Aubry Bend Middle, while Wolf Springs and Timber Creek elementary schools would funnel to Wolf Springs Middle School.
Students who are moved during the change can request to transfer back to their old school after one semester, Superintendent Tonya Merrigan said.
Smaller boundary tweak takes effect in August
In addition to the new Wolf Springs Middle School boundary, the Blue Valley board also approved a smaller tweak that will impact families in one developing neighborhood near 167th and Quivira, starting this fall.
In August, students currently zoned to Aspen Grove Elementary who live in a small area just north of 167th and west of Quivira will attend Timber Creek Elementary.
Go deeper: Watch the livestream video of the meeting here. Discussion begins at 1:26:24.