Step Up is the Olathe Public Schools’ tuition-free diploma completion program for Kansas adults (age 18 or older) whose high school classes have previously graduated. Step Up students range from teenagers to retirees!

Step Up is a self-paced online program that is flexible for students with jobs and families. It is fully aligned with Kansas curriculum standards, and is designed to prepare students for post-secondary education or for direct job placement / advancement.

Once Step Up students complete their required credits, they receive Olathe Public Schools diplomas at a traditional graduation ceremony in May.

It is never too late to earn a high school diploma!

Read our Step Up brochure (PDF)

Step 1 – Request Records and Sign Up for Enrollment

The link below will take interested individuals to an online signup form that authorizes Step Up to request students' academic records from their previous high school(s) so the staff may know what classes / credits they need to complete a diploma.

At that same link, potential students will sign up for a 20-minute (or so) orientation meeting with the Step Up staff. They may meet the staff in person at the Step Up computer lab in downtown Olathe or by teleconference over Zoom.

Once a person signs up for orientation, the Step Up staff will email instructions for a set of pre-enrollment online tasks to complete before the orientation meeting.

Step 2 – Enrollment and Orientation

During the 20-minute orientation, the Step Up staff will review the student's academic transcript and assign the first online class.

• Students who are age 20 and older by Sept. 20, 2025, will then be fully enrolled, ready to begin their first online pre-recorded classes right away.
• Students who are ages 18 and 19 on Sept. 20, 2025 will also be able to begin classes right away, but they must also spend two seven-hour online classwork sessions as part of their enrollment processes.
  • Those work sessions can be at any time of day; they do not have to be during regular school hours or days.
  • Those work sessions will count toward a student's class progress.
  • The Step Up staff will provide details and schedule those days with students during their initial orientations.

Begin the online enrollment process now.

Additional Information

Step Up hours are 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday on regular school days. See the district calendar

The program is based at the Mill Creek Campus, 300 E. Loula Street, in downtown Olathe, Kansas, 66061.

Program administrators are available at 913-780-7880 or by emailing StepUp@olatheschools.org.