Since Olathe West first opened in 2017, Megan Black has been a steady presence on the school’s leadership team. As of the start of this school year, she’s the school’s top owl.
The high school’s last principal, Jay Novacek, moved to a district-level position over the summer as Olathe Public Schools’ director of athletics and activities. He opened Olathe West in 2017 alongside Black, who worked as an assistant principal at the school until this year.
“It’s been a really good start to the year,” Black said. “Kids are, from my perspective, they look happy to be here. Staff is doing a great job, and it’s just been a lot of fun. Our students are incredible.”
Going into education felt only natural for Black, who comes from a family of educators. Both parents taught, and her dad eventually moved to administration.
“I never really considered any other career,” Black said. “Sometimes you feel called to do something. Being in education, I think, is extremely rewarding because I truly believe that public schools are the foundation of a community.”
A product of Olathe Public Schools herself, Black graduated from Olathe South in 2004 before going on to earn her undergraduate degree in secondary education with an emphasis in Spanish from Emporia State University. She later earned her master’s degree in educational leadership and administration from ESU.
“Olathe is home,” Black said. “It’s provided me so many great opportunities growing up as a student and then in my career as a professional, it’s just been a wonderful place to be.”
Once Black obtained her undergraduate degree, she worked as a Spanish teacher at the middle school she once attended, Indian Trail. After that, she taught at Gardner Edgerton High School while earning her master’s and then moved to an administrative position in the Eudora School District.
She worked in Eudora until 2017, when Olathe West opened.
“This is such a great place to work and to be and the principal who opened the building, Jay Novacek, he was a great mentor of mine,” Black said. “He set this place up for absolute success, built the community here and just built an incredible school.”
Before Novacek was Black’s mentor, he was one of her English teachers at Olathe South.
“The older I get, the more (hiring someone I taught) happens,” Novacek said, adding that he’s also hired former students from Olathe West and Northwest. “It’s always pretty neat to see kids that enjoyed school enough, maybe not necessarily my class, but some of their classes where they felt like education was an awesome opportunity and made a career out of it.”
Black built a reputation locally, Novacek said, in the world of curriculum and instruction prior to her 2017 start in Olathe. This reputation is one of the reasons he hired her.
“She knows her stuff very well,” Novacek said. “She challenges teachers. She’s always on the cutting edge for what we’re doing in the classroom. I always thought she might be someone that could take over whenever I left Olathe West. She really loves the kids.”
In her goals for the year, Black said she’d like to build on the legacy left by Novacek.
“I really want the community, the students and the teachers to feel like nothing has missed a beat,” Black said.
Still, while some things might be different, she wants to emphasize building community and student success in and out of the classroom.
