Moving to Olathe PLEASE HELP!!!

I live in a great new neighborhood on the Westside of Olathe. It is called Persimmion Point. There are 2 models for sale in that price range. Ready to move in.The office # is ###-###-#### for more details. We have a neighborhood pool and there is a school near by and they are building a new school in the neighborhood next to us. I know that there are a few daycares close by but my daughter is only one so I don't know all the details. One is in a church about a mile from our house. Very close is a Walmart and grocery store and a few places to eat. There is an area near with shopping and a movie theater and tons of restaraunts. A little farther is the race track (nascar) and a larger shopping area with out shops and more restaruants called the ledges. For kids is a great farmstead called Deanna Rose. It is free and you can see and feed goats, horses, chickens and much more. They also have a play area and offer crafts and teaching classes in the barn. My daughter and her cousins love it! I use Dr. Keller. You can go on ohsi.org (Olathe medical center web site) and view profiles of Doctors at that hospital.Its the closest. Childrens Mercy South is also close by (maybe 10 to 15 miles) and they could probably get you hooked up with a speach theraptist. I hope this helps. I also know some great churches too if you are interested. If you need anything else feel free to email me directly at ____@____.com Sorry it was so long LOL!

1 mom found this helpful

We have a lot in common!! We just moved from Arlington to Olathe last October. We also have a 3 year old and have been married for 10 years. Don't worry, you will like the area. I love my pediatrician, his name is Dr. Mike McGinnis. His office number is ###-###-####. He is located at Olathe Medical at 151st and I-35. Do you want to live in Olathe, or a smaller city outside of Olathe? There are a lot of fun activities here, like Deanna Rose farm (free), the zoo, shopping galore, the Plaza, etc. I know how much the DFW metroplex has to offer, but there really is enough here to keep you busy. I can get a name of a speech therapist for you, I just have to contact a friend. Olathe schools are good. If you want to email me, don't hesitate. I know moving (especially with kids) is scary and a lot to take on. My email is ____@____.com I'd be happy to help you out! Best wishes, and the midwest is a great place to raise a family.

1 mom found this helpful

Overland Park is Olathe's neighbor and you should expand your search to include it! Schools in Blue Valley, Olathe, DeSoto and Shawnee Mission are all quality schools. They are all within 20 minutes of the city of Olathe. I've taught in the area before staying home for over 10 years.
You can call the school district for a free screening and they will steer you to school sponsored classes and or therapies.
Look up www.reeceandnichols.com and add a school district search for the above areas and you will see what you can get for your budget!
I recommend Gayla Hoit of Keller Williams. You can reach her at:

Business: ###-###-####

E-Mail: ____@____.com

There is plenty to do in the Kansas City Metro area including Johnson County, where Olathe is. Better yet, there is minimal traffic! You'll love the traffic chnage from Dallas.
Deanna Rose Farmstead is a small children's petting zoo and park and will be close and is free.
We've had good luck with The Goddard School in OP. There is another in Olathe.
I love Dr. Deborah Winburn at JOCO Pediatrics. She has a child with a disability herself and I cannot say enough wonderful things about her!
You'll love it here! Good luck!

Hi, K W. Being a huge fan of KC, I think you will really like it here. Olathe is in Johnson County, which is a great area to raise a family. The Olathe Schools are great! The rougher side of Olathe and the older side is in the zip code of 66061. You might want to stay in the 66062 zip code area. The newer homes in the 66061 zip still go to Olathe North, which is a little rougher than Olathe South. Olathe Medical Center is an awesome hospital, and has awesome doctors for children and adults. Because of how close all the suburbs are, I wouldn't limit your search of housing to just Olathe, but add Overland Park and the surrounding areas, too. Unless you are concerned about gas and a 20 minute drive, there is a lot to offer in the surrounding areas as well. Olathe has the best theatre complex in the area- The AMC 30. We have the KC zoo, a free farmstead in Overland Park, and lots of things to do for children. We have great pools and a new water park is coming called Schliterbaun (spelling?) We just moved back to Shawnee, KS after living in St. Louis, and we will be here forever. I hope you love it as much as we do. I have a lot of family in the Dallas area, and if they weren't there, they would choose to be here. Good Luck and God Bless. Oh, a number for home daycare and preschools is the Day Care Connection. ###-###-####. they are awesome in helping you locate providers in your area. Take care.

we like Village Pediatrics because they have evening hours most nights and also saturday hours..but we both work.

i read through all the stuff posted and most of what I would say already got said..deanna rose farmstead for ex...so will try to cover stuff not said yet.

ARTichokes art studio has open painting ($5) on sat afternoons for well behaved kids, adults also. my child and I really enjoy this and at age four she could sit for an unbelievable 45 minutes entranced while I knitted. brushes, paper, apron, paints. you have to clean up but the rest is their area. I think it's a deal and a great way to have some art time together. they might do on friday night too. not sure; they also have childrens art classes but during the day ..this does not work for two parents working. http://www.artichokeskc.com/ClassSchedule027004131class_d...

child friendly restaurant: Mimi's

two children eat free with one adult: Cinzettis on tues night

really cheap menu for kids: Jason's deli

interesting "field trips": Shatto Farms, Campo Lindo Farms, fire station tours.

great parent seminar by day care teachers on how to discipline w/o using corporal punishment (obviously day cares cannot parents can): http://www.dwd.com/live-seminar.asp we LOVE their classes at wonderscope they are AWESOME even my hubby who is a hard sell.

great Love and Logic parenting classes or one shot deals: http://www.real-families.com/Parentingclasses.htm we love laura she is amazing and she even does marriage coaching again even hubby likes it.

great hayrides at shawnee mission park in the fall: http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/1...

also just fyi for the pres. election..kansas allows advance voting up to two weeks before election day, in person, or even mail in if you are not close or prefer mail in. http://www.kssos.org/elections/elections_registration_vot... for more info

Good luck with your move and welcome to the KC area!!! :)

1. With your price range you're certain to find a nice house in a great area in Olathe. Another poster also mentioned south Overland Park, it's another great city. We just bought a house recently and used Brett Pickett with Keller Williams. He was AWESOME! We seriously took him all over the metropolitan area looking for houses. We could call him about a house and 30 minutes later we'd be there doing a walk-through. I can't say enough about him, he's a great realtor. If you want his contact info, just private message me and I'll send you the info.

3. There's lots to do in the KC area. I'm sure your daughter will love the Deanna Rose Farmstead, the zoo, and when she gets older we have Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun. There's also Shawnee Mission Park. T-Bones baseball games are also a lot of fun and very family friendly.

Here's some KC/Olathe websites for you to check out:
http://www.kcparent.com
http://www.visitkc.com/index.aspx
http://www.olathe.com/ComPage/default.asp
http://www.olatheks.org/
http://www.jocogov.org/index.htm
http://www.opkansas.org/_Vis/Farmstead/index.cfm

Hi there,
Looks like you have gotten alot of really good suggestions here. I just wanted to welcome you. I am originally from Kansas but spent 8 years in the Allen/Plano area. I loved
Texas and I certainly still miss it but you will love the warmth of the people here in Kansas. I live in Olathe and am currently looking to buy a house also...although not at your price range but I have found that at this time in the housing market that houses I looked at 4 years ago when I first moved here are 20000-40000 less now. So...you are definitely moving at the right time. I understand the worries of many about the 66061 area but with the right realtor, knowing the new schools going in....that area is quickly becoming the "new" area to be in. There are alot of big plans out that way for expansion. The Blue Valley school district is definitely a fantastic school district as long as money never becomes an issue. I am a single mom who is a hairdresser and I have watched many of my clients kids struggle with feeling the need to monetarily "keep up". To give you an example....its kind of like the difference between Allen and Plano. In our tax bracket my kids get to be a big fish in a little pond in Olathe Schools as opposed to being a little fish in a big pond in Blue Valley schools.
As far as things to do....you can choose so many things here in the area and everyone that said you will love how easy it is to get to everything is sooooo right. In
Dallas, no matter where you were going, you had to plan around traffic. You dont have to do that here. (except at 5:00).
If there is ever anything I can do to help you....feel free to call and if you end up needing a hairdresser...I am here in Olathe. ###-###-####

Welcome and you will love it here. It looks like you have alot of suggestions already and it seems that the east side of Olathe doesn't care too much for the west side??? I never knew that... I live on the "West side" and love it we live in Persimmon Hills (home prices are in your range our home are between 5 and 7 years old in the newer part of Persimmon)just west of k-7 and Sante Fe There are also other new subdivisions in this area in the same price range)and have never had any problems we are just far enough out that we are quite but close enough to drive to great shopping and eating. We are growing like crazy here in Olathe and only more stuff to come. Where we live our kids will be given a choice I thought to either go to Olathe North or Northwest which is the new High School they built a couple years ago. We are also getting a new Junior High and and a grade school. Good Luck on your hunt for a great home it shouldn't be too hard and let me know if I can answer any other questions.

Hi KW! It's always hard to leave family, but I think you and your husband and kids will love it here. Everyone's advice is good and I don't know if you can go wrong with the schools in the Johnson Co. area. I grew up in south Kansas City MO, so I might have low expectations! Ha ha... Anyway, I live in Shawnee; moved here because of the schools and my hubby is a cop here. One problem with Olathe, being a cop's wife and knowing Olathe cops, is that they have the same amount of police force as they did 30 years ago, yet the city has BOOMED in the last 15-20 years. They are short staffed - Big time. I know you might not have thought about that, but Olathe does have its share of crime, along with Overland Park (OP). If you care to look into Shawnee I would recommend western Shawnee, which is your price range anyway. Anything west of Quivira or nicer is west of 435 hwy. Your husband could take 435 down to Olathe or K-7 down. It's not far - 15 min maybe depending on how far south he has to drive. I think both Shawnee & OP have been voted as one of the best cities to live in by some big magazine. Anyway, I just thought I'd throw that part in there about the police. If you find an area that you'd like to live in, don't forget to check out that website where you can look up sex offenders - it's www.familywatchdog.us. (Sorry, I don't care how nice the neighborhood is, there are always criminals...) If you have any questions feel free to contact me. Good luck - you've got a lot of research to do!

we moved here from Memphis 3 years ago, lived in Overland Park, loved OP but were in an apartment, child went to Regency Place, great school!, Taxes are high in Johnson County, so is everything else in comparison to other states/cities, having said that when we looked for a home in Olathe/OP we found in our price range homes that were not well cared for, lucked upon a home in Shawnee, same sq footage, well maintained and $30,000. less than like homes in Olathe, so be sure to look in Shawnee, same great schools, etc. Takes only 10-15 minutes to get into Olathe from Shawnee, good luck and check for wood rot, no brick homes here!

If you're interested in joining a MOMS group once you get here, let me know. I am a member of West Olathe MOMS (Moms Offering Moms Support) and we have a couple of members from the DFW area. I graduated from TCU and there is another member who's husband worked for Marriot in Dallas not too long ago. We would love to help you get off on the right foot here in KS and help you find things to do! As for houses, there are a lot of nice neighborhoods and plenty of options, great schools, and friendly people. I know there are houses for sale in our neighborhood (Shadow Ridge Subdivision in West Olathe off of 135th/Santa Fe and Hedge Lane priced in the $230s and up). There are many good families and lots of kids. There are also houses in the surrounding subdivisions, all within walking distance of the elementary and middle schools. If you have specific questions, please let me know. Olathe is no DFW, but it is a good place to live. Good luck!
-L. W.

K W, Welcome!
I wanted to mention to you to perhaps stay away from the Countryside Elementry area, 124th and Brougham. That school has had a HUGE influx of children in the last year or so and from what I understand they are still trying to get a handle on that increase. Olathe has a great school district and, if your daughter would qualify, the Special Education Pre-Schools are Great! My sons attended them, the first one as a child with needs and the second as a peer model.

I asked my neighbor who is a speech therapist about your request and she said younger than 3, contact Johnson County Infant and Toddler Services. Older than 3, contact your local school district. So, once you settle on whether you will live in the Olathe, Shawnee Mission, or Blue Valley school districts, you can contact them for services. The Blue Valley district is nationally known and lauded and has a huge recreation commission with tons of activities available as well. Overland Park actually has the lowest taxes of the area. As with any metro area, one city seamlessly blends to the next and the roads are well maintained particularly in the southern part of the metro. We live in southeastern Overland Park and downtown Olathe is about 15 -20 minutes away. Best to you and your family!!

I live in Olathe and my kids go to Blue Valley schools, we love both. I live in Symphony at the Reserve and almost all the homes in this subdivision go for between 200 and 250, it also has a pool and a fantastic hoa who plan lots of activities for the kids at the different holidays. I would suggest that you stay east of I-35, we used to live west of I35 but felt the area was getting to rough and we really wanted our girls to go to Blue Valley schools. If you need a realtor we used Jerry Kelso and he was wonderful, his phone number is ###-###-####. Good luck on your move and you will love Kansas City.

Hi! Good luck house hunting & with your move. We live in Lenexa, which is a burb that borders Olathe. You should consider Lenexa, Shawnee & Overland Park as well as Olathe. All have wonderful schools. Our 2 yr old son had a speech delay and we were connected with Infant Toddler Services of Johnson County. I cannot say enough great things about them. A speech pathologist came to our home once a week & worked with our son for an hour. He LOVED it! In three months he was talking in the average range and sad to see Ms. Kathy go! The service is FREE (reason we pay higher taxes but well worth it). Our home is currently on the market for $227,500 if you want to take a virtual peek. We are in walking distance to one of the top elementary schools in the Shawnee Mission District.... Mill Creek Elementary. Also walking distance to a trail system and Shawnee Mission Park. Here are some links for you!

www.itsjc.org
www.smsd.org/custom/parentsasteachers/default.htm
www.opkansas.org/_Vis/Farmstead/index.cfm
www.stpaulslenexa.org/preschool/philosophy.php
www.wonderscope.org/
www.reeceandnichols.com (our house is MLS Number: ###-###-####)
www.smsd.org/schools/millcreek/
www.jcprd.com/parks_facilities/shawnee_mission.cfm

We moved here to Olathe 5 years ago from the DFW area too. We thought we'd only be here 3-5 years, but have since fallen in love with the area and the people and don't want to leave. We live in Arbor Creek (159th and Brougham). This area of Olathe is fantastic. Arbor Creek Elementary is in the top 50 for ALL elementary schools in Kansas! Our neighborhood has shopping, daycare, restaurants, a vet, doctor, dentist, and orthodontist offices, and a grocery store. We're close to the library, Target, Wal-Mart, and so many other places. Homes in this area are also in your price range. We have MANY MANY kiddos in the neighborhood too. Good luck to you and your family.

Hi K.W.
I would say the further south or the further north you go in Olathe the better. I am from Olathe, born and raised and now living in Kansas City, MO which is only about 30 minutes. It would really help to know exactly where your Husband is working. Leawood would be a better city to live in and would be in your price range now. The Real Estate market here has dropped quite drastically in the last 6 months. I am very into real estate not an agent just really want to move back to Kansas, not Olathe. I would love to talk to you more about this, in a private e-mail. Blue Valley is the number one school district, in the area, but has been in the nation. Leawood is in the Blue Valley School District. There is plenty of shopping now matter where you choose to live. I know several people that live in the northern part of Olathe, anything that would be in Olathe North West High School territory would probably be ok, I would avoid Oregon Trail Junior High, and Fairview Elementary, personally. I know a lot of people who went to those schools and received a poor education. I personally went to Northview Elementary, Santa Fe Trail Junior High and Olathe North High School. I feel like I got a decent education, but kids that came from other schools seemed to all be in more advanced classes even though they were younger, when we got to Junior High. I know there is a lot of info here let me know if I can help any more. I like the www.reeceandnichols.com to look at real estate online because you can set up searches by school district, price range, and what kind of house you want as well as the features. The Pediatrician I can't help much with but Children's Mercy South has a great Speech Clinic, but there is a 6 month waiting list, you can get in for an evaluation after about 2 months. You can actually make appointments on their website www.childrensmercy.org I tried to find the Speech Therapy Clinic on their website I know it is there, I have seen it before, but I do remember calling to make the first appointment and then preregistering online. The Clinic is at their College Boulevard office, 5520 College Blvd. Overland Park, KS 66211 ###-###-####. Ok let me know if you need any help with anything else. Good Luck!

M. 32 year old Mother of 1 gorgeous almost 4 year old daughter, happily married to my wonderful Husband for 6 years this month, together 9, and currently going to college full time.

Welcome to Olathe...soon! I think you will find that Olathe is a wonderful place to live! Our home is actually on the market for 225. ( 4bdrm, 3 1/2 bath, former model home w/ upgrades) We live in a great neighborhood off K10 and Woodland with a neighborhood pool and lots of kids. There is a new elementary school being built close by, as well as a new grocery store opening soon only about a mile away.
My son is only 1 year, so I don't know anything about preschools or speach therapists.
There are several shopping centers locally. Oak Park mall (indoor), Town center Plaza, and the Legends shopping centers are wonderful. The Legends has outdoor concerts and dancing in the streets during the summer. The Country Club Plaza is a little more up-scale, but has a great Christmas light display starting after Thanksgiving.
There is a free magazine called KC Family magazine. The website is www.kcFAMILYmagazine.com. This magazine lists monthly activities (like library book readings, children's concerts, etc.). I know there is another free magazine similar to this one, but I can't think of what it's called. I get my magazines at my doctor's office.
During the summers in Olathe there are free concerts on most Friday nights at Indian Creek Parkway. I think the concerts are over for this year though.
The Mahaffie Farmstead has events. It is located off Ridgeview just North of Santa Fe. I know they usually have a cultural event (games, food, activities for kids, etc) and a war reinactment.
There is quite a bit to do in Olathe, I am sure I'm not even skimming the surface. You might look online or check the local libraries for other ideas.
Good luck and let me know if there's anything else I can tell you about Olathe or if you are interested in seeing my home.

A.

We moved here a year ago and are really enjoying our neighborhood. We live in Olathe, but are in the Blue Valley School District and our elementary is one of the best!!! Check out liberty view elementary on www.greatschools.net. Our property taxes are less living in Olathe than Overland Park, but since we are in the Blue Valley Schools, we get to take advantage of all of that. The Olathe schools are fabulous as well. There is a lot to do here, and Deanna Rose farmstead is just a few blocks away (free and great for little ones. We are off 143rd and Pflumm and feel like it is a great area. You can get to most anything in KC in about 30 minutes. Good luck---there are lots of houses for sale in our neighborhood area--ParkWood Hills, Symphony Hills and Copper Creek.

Hi, my name is M., I live in Olathe. I think you are in for a plesant surprize. I moved to Olathe 8 years ago, and love it. I'm originally from Detroit, so the idea of a smaller city was a bit scary for me (although I was anxious to get out of Detroit). Here are a few thoughts for you. As for school districts, Blue Valley is considered the "best" however if you look at test scores, and everything, Olathe and BV school are very close, depending on what you're looking at they are 1st and 2nd in the area, so IMO you are in good hands in Olathe, but you don't need to spend Overland Park prices. As for housing that close to shopping, being from a big city, nothing here is that far away, but one of the main shopping areas in Olathe is 119th street between I-35 and Black Bob of course they just added another huge area on the West side of I-35. I live on the West side of Olathe (if you have a map 135th/Sante Fe and K-7). I don't know much about Texas but find KC to be an easy town with plenty of highways to get around and do whatever you want.

As for things to do, we have tons. Not IN Olathe, but in KC (which for the most part you can get just about anywhere within 30 minutes unless it's rush hour). There is a zoo on the East side of KC that I really like but I think it's relative. Detroit had a horrible zoo. This one has a lot of walking, but really nice habitats for the animals, and they are constantly making it better. We have the Plaza and Crown center which are in KC itself, but is a fun occasional shopping area. Then there is the Legends which is fairly new not far from Olathe, that is where the race track and the great wolf lodge, Cabela's, and lots of restaurants, and outlet shopping. Olathe itself has a Bass Pro Shop and Overland Park has a realy nice mall.

We have live theatres, and Dinner Theatre. We great football (even if we aren't winning, it's worth the experience to go to the stadium and check it out), no basketball or hockey, but they keep working on it. We get all the major concerts and everything.

Basically KC has most things any big city has to offer, in a smaller, small town feel, city. Does that make sense?

As for preschools, there are a ton everywhere, so I'd wait until you find a house to look, it's all a matter of preference. I went with one close to home and fairly cheap and have been very happy.

I would also recommend joining a Mom's group. That was a real life saver for me. I belong to one called Mothers & More. We are nationally offiliated, and we have around 90 members, so you are bound to find someone who lives by you, as well as someone who you click with. We have playgroups, and Mom's night out, and informational meetings. Last night they cooked for the Ronald McDonald house. The group is exactly what it says, a MOMS group, regardless of work, or no work, we focus on the mom, some are more kid orented where it's about always doing stuff with your kids, which can be good, but I like getting out without kids too.

Good luck in your move, let me knwo if you have any more questions, I think you'll like it here, most people do when they get here. The ones who don't are usually the locals who don't know what a good thing they have cuz they've never lived anywhere else LOL :)

M.

Congratulations on the transfer/move! Olathe is rated really high as one of the best places to live for it's size. The Olathe school district is also one of the best in the KC area. I know there are several neighborhoods in that price range. Palisade Park is in that range and has several homes for sale right now. The elementary, Sunnyside, is very good also. You should look up the area code 66062 on realtor.com for homes and you could look up the ratings for each elementary on the Olathe District website. As for preschools, my son is starting at a church one called Noah's Ark in September. Many people have recommended it so we are excited about it. If you want something more formal, I know of a non-religious affiliated school but will have to get back to you on the name - I'm blanking out. There's also the Goddard School which has branches around the country, I think. There's alot to do here in different areas of KC. In Olathe, there are things like Pump It Up, Monkey Bizness, Gymboree, lots of parks and pools, Deanna Rose Children's Farm (awesome and free). The KC Zoo isn't so fabulous from what I hear. We haven't been yet.

Hi KW,

I know you have already received tons of opinions so I'll try to keep it short. I grew up in Olathe and now live in Overland Park. Olathe is good but Overland Park is much better. Overland park homes hold their value much, much better than Olathe homes. I believe it is like 8-10% a year increase in home values, Olathe around 4-5%. The farther south in O.P. the better. Anything south of I-435 is going to be good. Overland Park and Leawood have a bad rap for being "snobby" due to the fact that there is alot of money in that area. There are alot of nice people on O.P. and just because you have money does'nt mean you are a snob. We have alot of wealthy neighbors who are just as nice as can be. I have found people to be more snobby(maybe pretensious is a better word)in Olathe because they like to act like they have money. O.P. has better schools(blue valley), but Olathe schools are good too. If you need a good realtor we have a good friend that is a realtor. Let me know if you want his #. Welcome to Kansas, I think you'll like it here!! :)

It must really be a small world. We just moved to Overland Park (right on the edge of Olathe) last month--from North Richland Hills ( a Ft. Worth suburb). We've only been here a little while, but I've met some really nice people. I think you'll be pleased.

Of course everyone has an opinion, but from the research we did, Blue Valley schools seemed the best. We focused our house search on only homes in that school district. More than anything, we were in a time crunch like you, and that helped narrow our choices.

We live in the very southern part of OP, and our zip is actually an Olathe zip. This might also be a good area for you to try. We found a local Prudential website that let you search by school district. That helped, plus our agent was terrific! Sandy Tasker w/ Coldwell Banker. She had taught kinder. for many years in Blue Valley before becoming a teacher, so she was also great at helping us find a preschool. She suggested Colonial CDC, which is not far from the intersection of Hwy 69 and 135th street.

The Blue Valley public elementary schools also offer a preschool program. From what I understand, the kids are in with some older special needs children. That might be a great place for your daughter, since the teachers will be more knowledgeable. The one near us was full, so I don't have much info on it, but the program has a good reputation with everyone I've talked to.

If you want to meet up and "talk Texas" after you get here, just email me at ____@____.com. I also have a 3 y/o little girl. Good luck!

KW:

Congrats and welcome to KC! My husband moved here from Dallas, 7 years ago. If I were you, I would check into houses that are in the Blue Valley school district (as oppose to the Olathe district). If not, look into the newer areas of Olathe, or ones closer to Overland Park (I guess that would be North Olathe) The housing market (for buyers) is great right now, so you should get a good deal.
As far as Preschool goes, check out the Goddard school (I believe you can do that online).

Good Luck, A.

As everyone keeps going back and forth about Olathe vs. Blue Valley, they are both great school districts that you really can't go wrong with. My parents moved down to Olathe when i was in 7th grade from Des Moines and immediately a whole new world was opened up to me. Even the "ghetto" areas are far nicer than a lot of other places you could end up. I am an east Olathe girl but would live on the west side long before I'd leave Johnson County in general. You will be happy with the opportunities that will be available to your children in either district. Most of my friends graduated from high school as sophmores in college b/c of all of the credits they were able to rack up during high school and that was more than 10 years ago so I know the programs have only gotten better over time.

For stuff to do, there are a lot of really good museums, there aren't enough words to describe how amazing the Deanna Rose Farmstead is (plus it is free!), be sure to check out Wonderscope too. If you enjoy bike riding, there is a great trail that runs through Olathe and Overland Park (Indian Creek trail), and there are probalby more parks than there are Starbuck in Seattle! We have started going on park scavanger hunts when the weather is nice to see how many we can hit up. You can even look up parks by age appropriateness on the Olathe Parks and Rec site. If you have dogs, there is an off-lease park in Olathe (Heritage Park) and one in Shawnee (Shawnee Mission Park) both have ponds for the dogs to swim in too. There are also some really nice pools for toddlers (one in Gardner and two in OP...) Most of the good shopping is probalby in OP but the cities all run together fairly seamlessly. My husband is head over heals in love with Denver and we have gone back and forth for years on moving there or staying here and staying here always ends up winning b/c it is such an amazing place to raise a family.

You've gotten lots of advice so I will keep it short. Olathe is an award-winning school district. Go to www.olatheschools.com, click on "about us" then click on "choosing Olathe schools" then click on "top awards" and you can read all about how they have won more awards in several categories than any other distrtict in the state. Don't get me wrong, Blue Valley and Shawnee Mission are also award-winning and are excellent, but don't discount the Olathe School District. We bought our house specifically to be in this district. We live in Overland Park, but are in Olathe schools and we wanted it that way.

Our kids go to Regency Place Elementary which received the national Blue Ribbon School Award from the U.S. Dept. of Education last year. (I believe only one other school in the state won that last year and it was also an Olathe school). We have an excellent staff lead by an unbelievable principal. We live in the 135th and Pflumm area. There is a lot to do here and I highly recommend Deanna Rose which is free and very close to the 135th and Pflumm area.

That's my 2 cents! Happy to answer any other questions. By the way, my sister moved here from Dallas in February.

I live in the southern part of Olathe that a lot of people have already recommended - around 159th & I-35. There are grocery stores, Home Depot & Target nearby and a hospital right across I-35. There is a new elementary school that just completed it's first year at 167th and Ridgeview.
The Johnson County area is growing to the South and to the West. If you work with a realtor at all, you may ask to look around 119th & Lone Elm as well. When we bought our house last year there were a ton of newer homes available in that area with amenities popping up all over the place. You can get the most house for your money in Olathe versus going into Overland Park, Leawood or other surrounding areas, although all are very nice with great schools. As far as crime is concerned, Olathe has no issues outside of any usual suburban area & isn't any less safe than anywhere else in Johnson County. I only bring this up because of one of the other responses. I grew up in southern Johnson County and it's pretty much all the same.
Shopping is better in Overland Park, but you can get to any malls within 15 minutes (you'll love the 'traffic' here - pretty non-existant). A couple of new shopping areas are being built between 119th & 143rd between Metcalf & Roe. Also there are great restaurants in this area both for family outings or if you and your husband want a night out.
For exercise the 2 main gyms in the area are Prairie Life (Olathe) or Lifetime Fitness (OP). I think the rates are similar - daycare avail in both - Lifetime has more amenities. Also there are walking/jogging/biking trails that wind from Olathe all through OP.
Otherwise, here are just a few names/numbers for the basics that are always hard to find/trust:
Peds - Dr. Lance Miller, Preferred Pediatrics - ###-###-####
OB/GYN - Dr. Gaslightwala or Nurse Midwives, Women's Care - ###-###-#### (they have multiple offices)
Hair - Lacey Broyles, Bellez Design Studio - ###-###-####

Good Luck! It's hard to go wrong out here. It will be a change...a little smaller than what you're used to...but it's a great place to live, raise a family and have fun too.