Nine months ahead of the introduction of Wasatch County’s second high school, open enrollment has begun.
Wasatch County School District students will be able to opt into the middle or high school of their choosing until Dec. 5. The second open enrollment window will begin in late February or early March and close April 5.
Students who do not fill out the form for school choice will be automatically enrolled at the school within their boundary for the 2026-27 school year. The school board approved the new boundaries earlier this month.
All school choice decisions will be honored. In the case that one of the middle or high schools reaches building capacity due to a large amount of school choice students, the school board will have discussions on how to resolve the matter.
Transportation to an out-of-boundary school will be the responsibility of the student and their family. A student may be denied an open enrollment opportunity if they have been suspended or expelled from a public school.
Superintendent Garrick Peterson encouraged those who are “dyed-in-the-wool” about which school they’ll attend to fill out the form by Dec. 5. This will allow the school district to better predict enrollment numbers for the middle and high schools as well as understand why students are choosing one school over another.
Peterson said students who don’t have enough information about Deer Creek High School, which will open next school year, should wait until the second open enrollment period before making a decision.
District officials will announce the high school assistant principals and open coaching positions later this month.
Department team leads will be finalized in December. In the school district’s model, those positions create the standards upheld in each course and the common assessments used. At least for Deer Creek High School’s first year, Peterson said the team leads of the new and existing high schools will convene on Mondays to “guarantee a certain level of standard in both schools.”
The bulk of teacher and coach placements will be completed by the end of February.
March will be an interesting month for Wasatch High School as student government elections for the 2026-27 academic year for both high schools will be taking place simultaneously in the same building. That means students interested in running should decide which high school they wish to attend before the election.
Teaching assignments, as well as the master and activity schedules, will be finalized in April.
The district should have access to the Deer Creek High School building by May 1. Although the open enrollment periods will be closed by then, Peterson said the district won’t be “inflexible” if someone comes in late with a genuine need for school choice.
“We feel good about (the open enrollment) process, but we’re also very aware that for everyone, this is an emotional thing,” Peterson told the school board during a work session Tuesday. “Now, it’s going to the kids, and they’re going to make choices. We need to be very sensitive to that.”