Photo: TownLift // Michele Roepke

PARK CITY, Utah — It’s a weekday, in the middle of the summer, which means the high school students who attend the Winter Sports School (WSS) are working in their classrooms. During the winter, they are working around the world, on the fields-of-play of multiple elite sports. A planned expansion of the school will allow for further success for future student-athletes.

They’re currently in the fundraising phases of said expansion. 8,700 additional square feet is what is planned. The new wing of the school will include six additional classrooms, a science lab, five restrooms, communal and faculty space, and an outdoor amphitheater.

It hasn’t always been located on Old Ranch Road, near the Park City Community Gardens in the shadow of Park City Mountain ski area. Originally, the school, which was modeled after a couple of East Coast elite winter sports high schools, was located at the Utah Olympic Park.

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The buildings that were vacated for the move now house the international headquarters of USA Nordic.

Stacey Border, mother of a ski jumping athlete on the team told TownLift, “The Winter Sports School creates space for all the individual learning styles of each individual student. My daughter wouldn’t be able to balance the rightful rigors of High School with the complex logistics of competing on the US Ski and Snowboard Team and all the travel therein, without the thoughtful, professional teachers and staff who simply wish to set our family up for success in school and in sport.”

Her daughter also competes on a different Park City High School/Park City School District sports team, as WSS students are encouraged to do.

Starting out as a private school, this fully accredited, four year high school is now a charter school which supports athletes in sports contested in all four seasons. It is not uncommon for parents from anywhere on the global map to send their children to attend the WSS.

This winter, Tess Miner-Farra, WWS Head of School wrote in a statement, “We are actively taking steps to finalize construction drawings, acquire permits, secure bids, and work out logistics for living and learning in an active construction zone.”

Contributions may be made to the school’s campaign by clicking here.

Youth Sports Alliance’s Park City Nation list of local Olympians is steeped in names who are alumni of the WSS.