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Sandy Journal

New Mt. Jordan Middle School Ready for Grand Opening

Sep 09, 2015 11:12AM ● By Bryan Scott

Inside the new school

By Julie Slama

Welcome home, Mountaineers. After two years of being temporarily housed in the former Crescent View Middle School, Mt. Jordan Middle School students were welcomed Aug. 11 to their new school building.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am to see the Mountaineers back on Mt. Jordan soil,” Principal Molly Hart said. “It’s back where we belong.”

The celebratory ribbon-cutting event attracted hundreds of current and former students, parents, teachers, staff, current and former Canyons School Board of Education members and community leaders. 

“This is a very exciting time,” Superintendent Jim Briscoe said. “This building will meet the needs of all students and engage them in instruction.”

The new school, which opened  Aug. 19 to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students, was built with money from a $250 million bond approved by Canyons voters in 2010. 

After a ceremonial ribbon cutting, guests were encouraged to walk through the facility that showcases an elevated running track, fitness rooms, a commons area and cafeteria, an 180-seat lecture hall, natural light in the hallways and classrooms, and a performing arts suite and a state-of-the-art, 600-seat theater and auditorium made possible by an investment from Sandy City. The school also will be wired for the high-tech demands of a 21st century education.

“When you look down the hallways or into a classroom, there is education in every step of the way,” Canyons Board of Education member Clareen Arnold said. “Above the lockers, there will be a timeline from the beginning of time to what could be the future. On the floor tiles, there is our solar system so students can learn about our planets. There’s an opportunity for students to become chess or checker pieces as they play and can learn about math at the same time. So students are learning not only from the teachers and principal, but also this structure. This is just an educational phenomenon.”

Arnold said what she also appreciates is the abundances of natural light. 

“The old Mt. Jordan was really dark and almost cave-like. My daughter attended it and asked to go outside between building doors just to get some natural lighting. This is the opposite. It’s almost like being outside while you’re inside,” she said.

Mt. Jordan student Shaelee Topham said that she had good impressions of her new school building.

“It looks really nice and I’m sure I’ll have a good time learning here,” said the seventh grader, who is part of the concert choir and wants to be a middle school teacher when she’s older. “I’m most excited about the gym. I like volleyball and doing all the exercises.”

Also thanked at the ceremony were “honorary Mountaineers” Hogan Construction and MHTN Architects, whom Principal Hart said “made the vision real,” and taxpayers, whom Superintendent Briscoe congratulated on helping see the vision of building an amazing school. In turn, MHTN gave Hart a $500 gift to help with needed items for the opening of the new school.

Former Canyons Board of Education member Paul McCarty, who helped with the initial groundwork of the new school, said that Mt. Jordan Middle School will bring more social-economic interest to Sandy.

“There will be more businesses, families and vibration in the community, and more people will take pride in this school,” McCarty said. “Mt. Jordan will once again become the beacon to the Sandy community.”