Why Weilenmann? Why not with these back to school activities.

The Weilenmann School of Discovey is gearing up for a packed autumn activity schedule. Photo: TownLift // Rayne Moynahan

PARK CITY, Utah — Back-to-school at the Weilenmann School of Discovery looks different from other schools in the Park City area.

This charter school, founded in 2010 and located in the Summit Park neighborhood, has its first day of school on Thursday, August 17.

This fall, the eighth graders will attend the Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City for three days and two nights. They’ll see three plays; “Romeo and Juliet,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “A Raisin in the Sun.”

The student body, who hail from Summit, Wasatch, and Salt Lake Counties, will participate in literary seminars about the plays, actor directed acting classes, and theater workshops.

Suzannah Barnes, director of development for the Weilenmann School of Discovery, told TownLift, “Students will participate in a number of team and community building activities. Our goal is to establish unity and friendship to start the year.”

For the seventh graders, they’ll attend the Theater in the Park, a two-day acting seminar at Sugarhouse Park, directed by Jamie Wilcox from the Egyptian Theater and The Play is the Thing.

Students will participate in actor guided classes, direct, and produce 10 minute plays which will be shown to the entire school the following week.

“One of our goals is to build community and emphasize the importance of working together. Our classes, our middle school, and our WSD community work best when we are all invested and working together,” Barnes said.

For the sixth graders, it’ll be field trips to the National Ability Center (NAC) and Antelope Island.

On day one at the NAC, students will attempt a high ropes course, and participate in teacher-guided team and community building activities.

On day two at Antelope Island, the students will participate in field studies guided by Weilenmann’s science department, team and community building activities, and receive an introduction to their science curriculum.

Barnes said, “In addition, we work to integrate the outdoors and our local environment into our program. Our Adventure PE program, our Mobile Classroom, and our challenging core curriculum all work together to support these goals.”