Deer Creek High School has been under construction along state Route 113 since May 2023.
Now Principal Justin Kelly says it's nearly time to lay carpet and tile, and the main areas needing work are the auditorium and gymnasiums. By June 1, it will be safe to enter the building.
Kelly said that’s also when the school will welcome students to the new outdoor sports facilities. The Deer Creek Riverhawks and Wasatch High Wasps will both compete in the 4A division this fall, and the principals are ready for a healthy rivalry.
“I’m excited for the rivalry, but I want it to be a friendly one too, like we can compete on the field, we can compete and everything else, but when we're done, shake hands, give each other a hug,” Kelly said.
For those who have walked the halls of Wasatch High School, Deer Creek will look familiar, just flipped. English and math classes are in a hallway to the left of the entrance; the art and science wing is to the right.
Another difference, Kelly said, is Deer Creek’s walls aren’t curved like Wasatch’s. The design was squared to cut down on costs and give the area a train station feel. The high ceilings, exposed metal supports and windows add to the effect; a nod to the Heber Valley Railroad around the corner.
The building will offer the same courses and extracurriculars as Wasatch. But Deer Creek has a larger veterinary science room.
“We can do our artificial insemination, we can castrate a horse,” he said. “We have some pens that will have animals in them, so kids can actually do some research on the life cycle.”
Deer Creek will also have a childcare space that’s available to Wasatch County School District teachers at a reduced rate.
Students can earn college credit through early childhood development classes and helping in the daycare. There are programs for infants, two to three-year-olds and kids four years old and up.
“One of the things we want to do is retain teachers, attract quality teachers,” Kelly said. “I've been busy interviewing a lot of people, and one of the things that people have said is this has been an attraction.”
The new school’s athletics building has a main and auxiliary gym, dance studio, weight room, running track, concession stands and press room.
Kelly said students will help name the main gym.
“We're not going to call it the Nest, because Wasatch has already taken that,” he said. “We're going to let the kids decide what they're going to call this.”
Since the project’s start, Kelly and district leaders have been thinking beyond the first day of school.
Glass displays at the entrance to the athletics building are ready for future state championship trophies and pictures of record-setting students. Kelly said he’ll start to fill them this fall; he’s ordered extra jerseys for each sport so inaugural team members can sign and hang them in the cases.
Kelly said the students will also help write Deer Creek’s fight song.
“We want to have the kids build that so that we can make memories for the kids who first came,” he said. “It's going to be a little bit of a process, but I think it's gonna be fun.”
A lot of thought has also been put into incorporating Deer Creek’s mascot, the Riverhawks. The common area at the entrance of the school will have a large tiled depiction of the bird.
There’s also a nesting pole to the north of the main building.
