Behind the scenes during the 2025 opening of Tooele’s new high school

Tooele, Utah — Deseret Peak High School in Tooele will welcome 1,800 Golden Eagles in a little more than a year. The school’s name and mascot are reflected in the building’s architecture.

They’ll be learning more about themselves, attending classes, and supporting the team throughout the games.

“Getting students to pick new fight songs, cheers, they can pick traditions, it’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Deseret Peak High School Principal Matt Parker.

But the school must be completed before any of that can take place. In order to construct new schools in the district, voters approved a $170 million bond in 2020, which included funding for it. According to Tooele County School District’s Brett Valdez, they have made an effort to spend funds wisely during the construction phase.

“By just putting a little more thought in the way we build it up front we can be so much more efficient for years to come with the energy cost, the lighting we have, utilizing the slope of the land,” Valdez said.

According to Valdez, the Tooele County School District has growth of between 4% to 5%. The district will experience less overcrowding at other adjacent high schools thanks to the new school. Additionally, the design aims to improve the learning environment. According to Principal Parker, teacher offices will permit the school to employ 95% of its classrooms for daily student instruction.

“Other schools around the county, they have a 70% usage rate because you have teachers in classrooms during prep time,” Principal Parker said.

Along with the varied class sizes, he is also looking forward to the sporting options that will be accessible to both students and community high school sports enthusiasts.

“You can also adapt our teaching to be more intentional with our engagement and having more authentic application to what’s being taught,” he said. “We do have a gym that covers all four corners seating, we do have a turf field, the ability for our players to run right from the locker room right onto the turf field.”
It will take five or six years to complete the high school. Although the school year 2025–2026 is when they plan to welcome pupils, Principal Parker has already envisioned the atmosphere that would permeate the hallways.

“I envision students who are coming in ready to learn, but I’m also envisioning teachers who are wanting to learn also and better themselves,” he said.

He is now hiring for lead custodian and counselor positions. He and the district will start hiring teachers for the new school and learning environment in the spring of 2019.