The Park City High School halls buzzed with freshmen energy Aug.19.
Only ninth graders attended the first day of school this year, part of a new initiative to integrate the class of 2030 into the student body.
This is second year freshmen are on campus, after Treasure Mountain Junior High closed in 2025.
Principal Caleb Fine said the goal was to make the class feel comfortable before the older students arrive.
“We really hope that they felt loved and cared for,” Fine told KPCW. “And then ultimately tomorrow, when the whole student body is here and it’s a little bit more crowded and a little more chaotic, they don’t have to feel quite as nervous, and they know they’re a part of Miner Nation.”
The day began with an assembly before the 379 freshmen shuffled through their eight-class rotations. Administrators led the students to their classrooms and answered questions.
The schedule allowed14-year-old Caden Lang to explore his courses. He said he’s taking AP Geography, honors math and his favorite, marketing for sports and outdoor recreation.
“Today we watched a baseball game,” Lang said. “It was the Yankees-Dodgers like World Series game one. And so what we were trying to do was we watched the game and then we write down all the advertising that we saw. And it was a competition, so that was fun.”
As the day ended with an ice cream social, Brighton Heaney, 14, said she’s looking forward to making new friends.
“It feels a lot more exciting because there’s lots more people I get to meet and lots more people I get to hang out with,” Heaney said.
School counselor Liz Moskal said a similar effort in Wasatch County inspired its freshmen first day.
“Originally we had thought about bringing them over in the spring and doing some different things there, but this seemed like the right idea,”Moskal said.
Moskal said this ease into high school is the foundation on which students will build successful paths to graduation.
