Dr. Brad Welle serves as superintendent for the Grain Valley School District in Grain Valley, Missouri. This is Brad’s 27th year as a school or district leader. Previous roles include assistant superintendent, elementary school principal, middle school teacher, and paraprofessional.
 
Grain Valley Schools has 4,400 students located just outside a circle of larger suburban Kansas City, Missouri area school districts. 
 
Grain Valley became a Bright Futures community in 2014 and Brad was the founding coordinator. Today, Bright Futures is a central feature in Grain Valley and their community network ensures no student goes without shoes, eyeglasses, clothing, weekend food, personal hygiene products, school supplies, or many other basic needs.  The network even connects high school students to free prom dresses, if needed, ensuring that everyone can participate in this special milestone.
 
In recent years, the district has implemented therapy animals in each school and has partnered with outside therapy providers to provide ongoing therapy to students during the school day.
 
The Bright Futures network in Grain Valley is growing and expanding its ability to problem-solve the greater challenges impacting today’s students.