Connect Canyons

Ever wonder what it’s like to build a course schedule for a public high school? In Canyons District, we refer to this undertaking as “building a board,” which makes it sound like a parlor game. But the process of making sure the courses you offer align with the faculty members who are certified to teach those courses and with what students want or need to take in order to graduate, is more like piecing together a Spiderman puzzle with thousands of pieces that are all the same shade of red. It’s a heroic effort, it’s complicated, and in this pandemic

What’s the recipe for student success? Relationships, relationships, relationships. Call it a twist on the “three Rs,” but relationships are truly the foundation of all learning, from the time we are infants enthralled in a game of peek-a-boo to the mentors who influence our path through school, college and the workplace. To borrow an oft-quoted phrase:  Students don’t care what you know (about reading, writing or arithmetic) until they know how much you care. So, how can schools create the right conditions for relationships to flourish? According to Dr. David Allen Parker, they must intentionally work to build, through practice

This unique school year is giving student body organizations the opportunity to get creative and reach out to students in more meaningful ways. They’re leading by example, adopting new routines, and finding new ways to stage events and assemblies — and while the school year looks different from what they could ever have imagined, they’re willing to do what it takes to stay in school. As Brighton High student body president Will Rahaniotis puts it: “If I get to see my friends for six hours a day but I lose some of the fun activities, to me that’s worth it.” Listen

Midvalley Elementary Principal Tamra Baker arrived at school bright and early on Monday, Aug. 24 to make sure final preparations had been completed in time for an historic moment for her school community. It would be a day of firsts for Baker’s Jr. Huskies: The first day back at school since the COVID-19-related dismissal of schools five months ago, the first day of the school year, and the first day in a shiny new school that was completed just in time for classes to start. The usual first-day jitters, felt by students all across Canyons, were compounded by the fact that

The right of a fair trial by a jury of one’s peers has taken on new meaning with the creation of Canyons District’s Peer Court. Peer courts, also known as youth or teen courts, are a diversion program where youth charged with minor offenses, such as vandalism or fighting, agree to come before a sentencing panel of their peers. Peer Court sentencing is geared toward holding students accountable for righting wrongs, repairing harms and restoring relationships. As an alternative to automatic expulsion, suspension, or referral to juvenile court, this type of sentencing aims to keep students connected to their school,