By Melany Miller
Mount Mahogany has been selected as the name for the new elementary school now under construction in Pleasant Grove. The Alpine School District Board of Education had a unanimous vote at their last public input meeting held at Cedar Valley Elementary.
“We wish to thank the committee and others who contributed their time and talents to the naming process,” said Jack Reid, administrator over the elementary schools of the district. “The name reflects the desires of the local community.”
Mount Mahogany is a mountain peak visible to the east of the new facility.
Scot Westover, current principal of Grovecrest Elementary in Pleasant Grove, has been named principle for the new school.
“I haven’t met with my staff for strategic planning yet, but as far as personal goals, I would like to focus in three particular areas: academic, environment and school management goals.”
Westover said that he thinks of running his school in three ways. He would like to run an Ivy League academic program, maintain a Disneyland environment and establish West Point school management goals.
Mount Mahogany Elementary is one of four new elementary schools in the Alpine School District. The schools are valued at an average of $7.5 million each.
Three of the schools, including Mount Mahogany, Westfield Elementary in Alpine and Snow Springs in Lehi, are scheduled to open this fall.
According to Jim Hanson, director of budget and student accounting for the Alpine School District, several elementary schools in the area are at building capacity due to the rapid rate of growth in the area.
“At this point, we’ve spent all of our bond money for our projects. We’ve completed four elementary schools and also done some remodeling, but we definitely will build more in the future,” Hanson said.
Several schools are able to keep up with population growth by adding trailers. Hanson said that trailers are added to school buildings not only because of the rapid rate of growth, but also because of the shift of people and programs over time.
“We don’t want to overbuild in any area, but we try to make sure there’s enough capacity,” Hanson said.
Mount Mahogany Elementary will relieve possible crowding in Manila Elementary, Valley View and Cedar Ridge Elementary.
Mount Mahogany will open this fall with an expected enrollment of 665 students. The school’s capacity is 865 without adding any trailers.
