Draper Park Middle School
Julie Slama - The Draper Journal
The new middle school that will open this fall has been named to honor both an early city settler and a pioneer teacher.
The Canyons Board of Education voted June 18 to name the new school Draper Park Middle School, a name suggested by the Crescent View School Community Council. The new school will house current Crescent View Middle School students who live south of 12300 South.
The new middle school in Draper which will open this fall will be called Draper Park Middle School
“I’m very happy that the school board and the school community council had a role and agreed on one of the three possibilities of a name change,” Draper Mayor Darrell Smith said. “It was the preferred one, and the one I liked best.”
Earlier this spring, the school board asked the school community council to propose school names to match the school’s new site, 13133 South 1300 East, after agreeing to leave the current name with the school in Sandy. On May 30, they suggested three possibilities: Draper Park, Canyon Creek and Canyon Hollow.
“We decided on Draper Park, mostly because it was history in John Park making contributions to Draper, and William Draper himself, an early settler, so we were honoring both the historical sense and the community,” school board member Kim Horiuchi said. “The current school still has a lot of identity within the Crescent community of Sandy, so it made sense to rename the school.”
Smith said the school name reflects that education is a priority in Draper.
“This shows our value as education is the number one-important value in our community by honoring past educator John R. Park. My great-grandfather Absalon Smith was a member of the school board and took in John Park, who was a well-educated man, and provided him with room and board while he taught in Draper in the late 1800s,” Smith said.
Board member Robert Green made the motion to rename the school to honor Draper’s history.
“We value people who are trailblazers and value education in our communities,” he said.
The city’s Park School, which was built in 1912 and named after Park, now houses the Draper Historical Society and items for the Draper Arts Council and Draper Historical Theatre.
Hourachi said that although both schools have the Park name in them, there won’t be any confusion.
“Draper Park combines both historical names and will have its own identity,” she said.
Board member Tracy Scott Cowdell, who seconded the motion, said Crescent View, at11150 South 300 East, will be used for the next few years as temporary housing for students whose schools are being rebuilt, beginning with Mt. Jordan Middle School this fall.
He supported the current school retaining the name that ties it to its community.
“The fact of the matter is that, yes, we are moving the school,” he said. “But the name should remain in the community.”
Crescent View Middle School’s long-term use still is undetermined, Horiuchi said.
The school board decided last March to build the new middle school at the Draper location so it will be closer to the majority of the students who will live within its boundaries for the 2013-2014 school year. It’s the first public middle school in Draper.
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