The Weilenmann School of Discovery is a tuition-free K-8 public charter school. Park City resident Tracy Sjostrom began her position as executive director July 1. She has nearly 30 years of education experience, including 17 years as an administrator at the elementary, middle and high school levels.
“When this Weilenmann position became available, I was so excited, because it's everything I believe in; outdoor education, experiential learning, liberal arts, differentiation and social-emotional learning are all my areas of expertise and the areas that I'm passionate in,” Sjostrom said.
Public charter schools like Weilenmann are government-funded but work independently of a school district. Sjostrom said this is an advantage because things can happen more quickly and the school can be more creative.
“I worked in Park City, and I worked in Salt Lake, and they have probably 20 to 100 people above us making decisions and providing input and it gets to be a lot. It can it can be toxic at times. Park City had three superintendents in three years, and then Salt Lake City had five superintendents in five years,” she said. “So it's easier working at a charter school. We can be simple and do what's most important, which is meeting the needs of our students.”
About 500 students are currently enrolled at Weilenmann in grades K-8. Sjostrom said since the school has the kids for most of their pre-college education, they know the students and their needs well. She said this allows teachers to tap into the curiosity of all students and partner with families.
This also creates learning opportunities such as visiting music studios, fish hatcheries, and Moab museums, as well as making weekly hiking trips and skiing and snowboarding.
“We're very welcoming and nurturing. A lot of students don't feel safe these days, sadly. There's been OCR complaints in school districts. There's a lot of bullying. I dealt with weapons in schools. We don't have that,” Sjostrom said. “We are small enough where we know our kids, we know what is going on, that kids come and they feel safe enough to learn.”
Sjostrom is referring to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights which found over 180 incidents of harassment in the Park City School District.
She said Weilenmann has a multi-tiered system to support its students. Tier one is a social-emotional learning curriculum where students focus on a character trait each month and then model and practice it. The school also has small support groups and an in-house social worker.
Sjostrom also said Weilenmann is currently looking into a partnership with the Winter Sports School, which is the only public charter high school in the nation with an academic calendar from April through November, since Utah was awarded the 2034 Winter Olympics.
Weilenmann is accepting enrollment applications until October 1.
