Salt Lake City School District

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The Salt Lake City School District is among the oldest public school districts in Utah. Boundaries for the district are identical to the city limits for Salt Lake City. Employing about 1,300 teachers who instruct about 24,000 students K-12, the district is the fifth largest in the state behind Jordan School District, Granite School District, Davis School District, and Alpine School District. Two of the district's high schools, East and West, are over 90 years old.

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[edit] High schools

All high schools in the Salt Lake City District serve grades 9-12. The district operates three high schools as of 2004: East High School near the University of Utah serving the central-east part of the city, West High School in western downtown serving the north and west area, and Highland High School near Sugar House Park serving the southeast. Additionally, the district runs an alternative/adult education school, Horizonte High School, located on Main Street in the south central city.

A high school no longer extant—South High School (Salt Lake City), on State Street—once served the southern part of Salt Lake City. The district built this school during the depression to accommodate about 1000 students from the private LDS High School, which closed in 1931. Located in what became a business district by the 1980s, falling enrollment prompted the district to close South High after the 1987-1988 school year. The district donated the school building to the Salt Lake Community College.

[edit] East High School

East High School serves grades nine through twelve. East was founded in 1914 and currently has an enrolled student body of 1,996. It is located at 840 South 1300 East in the East Bench neighborhood. The school mascot is the Leopards and this school's recent achievements are listed below:

  • Academically in 2002-03 East had 7 National Merit Semi-finalists and 1 National Merit Winner, 4 Sterling Scholar State Finalists and 1 State Winner, with 30% of students regularly on the Honor Roll.
  • Athletically East High has earned over 66 State Championships since opening in 1914. The fall sports teams in 2003-04 have won 3 State Championship and 4 Region Championship Trophies.
  • Service groups at East provide assistance regularly to the community. One-fourth of senior students earned Block “E” Awards for their service and involvement in school activities in 2003-04.


Most of the Disney Channel film High School Musical was filmed at East. They are now working on High School Musical 2, which will also be filmed at Clayton Middle School

Previously, in 1995 East attracted national attention when a student petition to form a Gay-Straight Alliance prompted district officials to ban all extracurricular student clubs; the decision was reversed five years later after extensive student protests. The club still goes strong today.

Noted Alumni:

[edit] Highland High School

Highland High School opened in 1956 and has a student body of about 1,788. It is located at 2166 South 1700 East, next to Sugar House Park. The current principal is Paul Schulte. Its mascot is the ram and its colors are black and white, due to the fact that it sits near the site of the former Utah Territorial Prison.

During the 2006-2007 school year, Highland will begin hosting a charter school known as the Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts (SPA), which over the next one or two years will be constructed alongside the school.[1] It will offer programs in music, theater, and dance, as well as feature a 350 to 400 seat auditorium. Enrollment is expected to reach its maximum of 400 within three years. [2]

Highland High School is noted for its rugby team. It has won the national high school championship in 17 of the last 22 years and in that time span has never placed lower than third. In 1998 Highland participated in the first World Schools Rugby Championship held in Harare, Zimbabwe. They were the only team from the Western Hemisphere included and placed 3rd place out of 12 teams.

Noted Alumni:

  • John Bytheway, LDS author and youth speaker.
  • Haloti Ngata, defensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens and first-round 2006 NFL Draft pick
  • Jon Schmidt, Pianist
  • Jeff Judkins, Basketball player and coach
  • Logan Tom, Olympic Volleyball Player
  • Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., Governor of Utah and son of billionaire philanthropist Jon M. Huntsman, Sr. of Huntsman Corporation
  • Peter R. Huntsman, Sr., CEO of Huntsman Corporation, son of billionaire philanthropist Jon M. Hunstman, Sr. and brother of Utah's governor Jon M. Hunstman, Jr.
  • Mary Kaye Huntsman, Utah's First Lady and daughter-in-law to billionaire philanthropist Jon M. Huntsman, Sr. of Huntsman Corporation

[edit] West High School

West High is one of Utah's top high schools and is located at 241 North 300 West in Salt Lake City. West High has a student population of 2,278 under Principal Margery Parker. In addition to students in grades nine through twelve, West High School serves a group of 7th and 8th graders in an Extended Learning Program (ELP). The school mascot is a panther, and the school colors are red and black.

West High has one of Utah's most diverse student population. West High is located between the affluent Capitol Hill, The Avenues, and lower-class Rose Park neighborhoods. Until the late 1980s, West High had a reputation as a bad school serving poor minority students. In response, and under the leadership of principal Harold Trussell, the school district added the ELP, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs to West's curriculum; today these programs attract many of Salt Lake City's and Utah's top students. West sends more students to Ivy League schools than any other school in Utah; in the 2006-2007 school year it had 21 National Merit Semifinalists.

In 2006, West High School was #163 in Newsweek's Top 1,200 U.S. Schools rankings. West was chosen by the Utah State Legislature as a Centennial School, which allows West to participate in site-based decision making. Other awards West has received include the Governor's Award of Excellence, the National Excellence in Education Award, and the Drug-free High School Award. West High students achieve high honors in competitions such as the State Math Contest, Brigham Young University Science Bowl, State and National History Fairs, American High School Math Exam, and Utah Academic Decathlon. West High has an active Alumni Association, which raises $40,000-$50,000 annually for scholarships given to graduating seniors.

West High School was the film location for the fictional "Northeast High School" in the film SLC Punk.

Noted Alumni:

[edit] Middle schools

There are five middle schools in the Salt Lake City School District. All middle schools in the district teach grades 7-8.

Salt Lake City Middle Schools
School Enrollment Neighborhood
Bryant Middle School 635 Central City
Clayton Middle School 577 Sugar House
Glendale Middle School 564 Glendale
Hillside Middle School 573 East Bench
Northwest Middle School 769 Rose Park

In addition, West High School offers grade 7 and 8 for some students as part of the "Extended Learning Program" (ELP).

[edit] Elementary schools

The district operates 27 elementary schools. All elementary schools in the district serve grades K-6, with some offering preschool services.

Salt Lake City Elementary Schools
School Enrollment Neighborhood
Backman Elementary School 543 Rose Park
Beacon Heights Elementary School 532 East Bench
Bennion Elementary School 366 Central City
Bonneville Elementary School 387 East Bench
Dilworth Elementary School 499 Sugar House
Edison Elementary School 552 Poplar Grove
Emerson Elementary School 442 Sugar House
Ensign Elementary School 370 The Avenues
Escalante Elementary School 598 Rose Park
Franklin Elementary School 514 Poplar Grove
Hawthorne Elementary School 461 Sugar House
Highland Park Elementary School 567 Sugar House
Indian Hills Elementary School 380 East Bench
Jackson Elementary School 527 Rose Park
Lincoln Elementary School 509 Central City
Meadowlark Elementary School 485 Rose Park
Mountain View Elementary School 628 Glendale
Newman Elementary School 498 Rose Park
Nibley Park Elementary School 443 Sugar House
North Star Elementary School 578 Rose Park
Parkview Elementary School 501 Glendale
Riley Elementary School 558 Glendale
Rose Park Elementary School 505 Rose Park
Uintah Elementary School 579 East Bench
Wasatch Elementary School 521 The Avenues
Washington Elementary School 571 Capitol Hill
Whittier Elementary School 602 Sugar House

In 1999, the district approved a bond that would reconstruct 20 of the elementary schools as well as Northwest Middle School. In addition, two elementary schools were closed for the 2002-2003 school season (Rosslyn Heights in Sugar House and Lowell in The Avenues) while serving as temporary campuses for the reconstructed schools. They were originally going to choose two schools off of a list of eight to be closed, and eventually the school board decided to close Lowell and Rosslyn Heights (the latter of which was not on the list). This aroused considerable protest from parents, teachers, and even board members, and lawsuits were filed against the district. However, they failed to keep the schools open.

[edit] External links


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