Mountain View Junior High hosts grand opening and open house | News, Sports, Jobs

WEST HAVEN – One of the three new schools in the Weber School District opened its doors to the public for the first time this week.

Mountain View Junior High School, 2100 S. 2700 West in West Haven, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house Thursday evening as part of its first back-to-school night.

Parents, students, teachers and dignitaries were in attendance for the celebration, including Weber School District Superintendent Gina Butters, WSD Board of Education President Paul Widdison and WSD Executive Director of Facilities and Operations Larry Hadley.

Mountain View School Principal Matthew Patterson told the Standard-Examiner that the new school building – which will welcome its first students to classes on Wednesday, Aug. 21, despite a construction process plagued by delivery problems, labor shortages and spiraling costs – will take advantage of the possibilities offered by technology.

“The building itself is technologically advanced,” Patterson said. “The teachers will actually have a laptop that can Chromecast to the big TVs in the school.”

Patterson also highlighted the school’s “open” architecture and flow. The school features large sliding doors for classrooms and “large common spaces in the open areas” where multiple classes can learn and create together.

“The idea is that we want teachers who work with children on a different level, on an intense level of collaboration,” Patterson said.

“I use this analogy all the time: We don’t want to be the mall, right? The Newgate Mall, because that’s the individual boxes competing with each other for customers. We want to be like the Super Walmart, where we are all one. Whether we’re buying tires or baby wipes, they’re all our children.

“We’ve created some areas in the school where the kids can actually be creative, whether it’s with posters, stickers, buttons or t-shirts, or they’re making videos in front of a green screen or with GoPro cameras or having access to iPads or 3D printers. We’ve made that available to all of our students,” Patterson said.

Mountain View will also be more efficient in terms of heating and cooling and overall energy use than older schools across the district. Additionally, the school colors of teal and charcoal gray/silver will be highlighted throughout the building’s interior and exterior.

The school’s first class is expected to include about 815 students between seventh, eighth and ninth grades, but Patterson said the building could accommodate up to 1,200 students in the future.

While Mountain View will officially open in a few days, decisions are still being made about when WSD’s other new schools – West Field High School and Haven Bay Elementary – will open their doors to students.

“We’re close to the end,” WSD spokesman Lane Findlay told the Standard-Examiner on Thursday. “Our contractors are doing everything they can to prepare these schools.”

West Field and Haven Bay also encountered problems during the construction process. Findlay said the district hopes both buildings will be ready for the Sept. 3 opening, but officials are discussing contingency plans in case the buildings are not occupied on time.

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