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Sandy Journal

Alta View Elementary opens doors to 600 students after ribbon-cutting ceremony

Oct 04, 2017 11:11AM ● By Jana Klopsch

Board of Education member Steve Wrigley, a former resident of the Alta View neighborhood, helps to cut the ribbon to officially open the new Alta View Elementary. (Jeff Haney/Canyons School District)

Canyons School District Superintendent Jim Briscoe, Alta High Principal Karen Medlin and other district officials gave about 600 students high fives as they walked into their new school Aug. 24 on a red carpet.

The school, which was built on the former school’s playing field, was opened after its groundbreaking April 19, 2016. Students attended school in the older building while the new building was built. The 54-year-old school was torn down soon after students completed school this past June.

Hundreds, including Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan, White City Council members and Canyons School District officials, attended the Aug. 17 ribbon-cutting celebration at Alta View Elementary, including board of education member Steve Wrigley, who lived nearby in the White City neighborhood. His wife, Carrie, had attended school at Alta View.

“I am so excited about opening a new school in my old neighborhood,” Wrigley told the crowd of about 600 neighbors, current and former students, staff and faculty, who gathered to celebrate the new school. “Alta View has always had strong school pride. With the new school, I look forward to the increased pride and support that will be given by the community. My hope is that this new facility will help to continue to improve the educational opportunities of the children in the White City area and will provide a community center point for the White City community.”

Medlin said that while the school building and its logo may be new, the traditions of the roadrunner and schools colors continue.  There also was a desire by the school community council to reinforce its bond with the community, so three rooms — the library and two activity rooms — were named after flowers, keeping with the tradition of streets in the neighborhood.

“We are part of White City so it’s fitting to give them flower names,” she said. 

After Medlin and Wrigley cut the ceremonial ribbon, students and their families toured the new two-story school building.

The school includes 24 classrooms and four rooms designed for its brain boosters program, all equipped with the ability to have computers in the classrooms as well as voice-amplification equipment for teachers. A grand staircase leads upstairs to the media center and computer lab. Both upstairs and downstairs have kivas for cooperative learning or smaller class performances.

“It’s unique for the school district to have a two-story elementary school,” Principal Architect Philip Wentworth, with Naylor Wentworth Lund Architects, said in 2016. “The design calls for as much natural light and sky lights as possible.”

The school has a security door at its entrance and a bus and carpool drop-off is included as many out-of-neighborhood students come to the Spanish dual-immersion school.

The new school also features a multipurpose room with a large stage with a security door that locks the rest of the school so the community and White City can use this room as a gathering place.

Medlin said another unique aspect in moving the school to its former playground was the ability to choose the address of the school.

“It was determined that with the direction of the school, we would have a Larkspur address instead of Crocus, so we could choose a number between 900 and 930. We selected 917 so we would always remember when the building was opened, fall of 2017,” she said.

Starting this fall, additional blacktop and grass will be added as will the landscaping. Previous playground equipment as well as a ball wall will be added for students’ recesses.

Alta View Elementary is the 12th major construction project completed by Canyons District since the public approved a $250 million bond in 2010