Education SIXTH, SEVENTH GRADES RETURNING TO MIDDLE SCHOOL Sixth- and seventh-graders in Payson and Santaquin headed to middle school in 2020, and more southern Utah County students will follow in their footsteps this fall. Nebo School District is in the midst of returning to the middle school model where students attend sixth and seventh grades in middle school rather than staying in elementary school for sixth grade and attending seventh grade in junior high. As part of that process, and utilizing part of the funds from a $298 million bond issue approved by district voters, the district constructed the new Valley View Middle School in Salem. Valley View, which opened last August, pulls students from Barnett and Taylor elementary schools in Payson as well as Salem, Mt. Loafer and Foothills elementary schools in Salem. Mt. Nebo Junior High School transitioned to become Mt. Nebo Middle School in 2020. The school pulls students from Payson and Santaquin as well as
Goshen, Genola and Elberta. Two additional new middle schools – Maple Grove Middle School in Mapleton and Spring Canyon Middle School in Springville – are under construction and will open this fall. Their designs are essentially identical to Valley View. Diamond Fork Junior High School in Spanish Fork will transition into a middle school in 2021. “It’s a fantastic building. It’s one of the best in the district, I think,” said Valley View Principal David Knudsen. At 143,000 square feet, the new two-story school has 51 teaching stations, two computer classrooms, two resource classrooms, a full gym with a track on the second floor, a lecture hall serving as a meeting place for larger groups, and a cafetorium with a stage for large performances. Valley View currently has about 900 students, but has room for about 1,300, Knudsen said. “The kids were excited,” he said while describing his school’s opening last fall.
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“They were really excited about the building. I think there still is an excitement about the building.” The middle school model allows sixth-graders to access extracurricular classes such as band, orchestra, choir and drama a year earlier than if they had waited until seventh grade to leave elementary school. Valley View students have already presented a musical this year and have been working on a play, Knudsen said. The transition to middle schools is also making it possible for all the students at
