Moab Charter School director Joseph Heywood points to newly poured cement where new restroom facilities will be located. Three new buildings were recently added to the MCS campus, and crews are working to complete the construction work in time for the start of school later this month. Photo by Jeff Richards
348 East 300 South
435-259-2277
Director: Joseph Heywood
Due to anticipated minor delays related to the installation of three new buildings on the Moab Charter School campus, school will start on Thursday, Aug. 22, instead of on Aug. 14, according to MCS Director Joseph Heywood.
“It’ll take a lot of work, but things are happening fast and I think we should be ready to go,” Heywood said on July 30 as workers poured fresh cement for new children’s restroom facilities that will be attached to the cafeteria and multipurpose room. Crews have already demolished the old administration building and replaced it with three modular structures, two of which will be used as classrooms. The other one, the northernmost building, will serve as the new home for the administrative offices and the special education department, Heywood said.
“Grades K through six all now have their own classrooms,” Heywood said, adding that other improvements are also underway, including renovating the cafeteria and installing additional kitchen equipment.
The interior space between the classroom buildings will be landscaped to include walkways and grass, Heywood said.
Moab Charter School is a free public school funded by the Utah State Office of Education. It is one of approximately 80 charter schools throughout the state. At MCS, class sizes are capped at 20 students per grade level, and Heywood said that while most grades are completely filled and have waiting lists for the coming school year, there are still a few open spots in certain grade levels.
Moab Charter School’s current enrollment of approximately 130 students in seven grades is more than three-and-a-half times the 36 students the school served back in 2008, when Heywood first took over as director. Heywood now oversees a staff of about 15, including seven full-time classroom teachers, one at each grade level.
“We have top-notch educators from all around the country on our faculty,” he said.
At MCS, school starts at 8:15 a.m. every weekday. On early-dismissal Fridays, all students are released at 1 p.m. On the other four days of the week, students in grades one through six will be dismissed at 3:15 p.m., while kindergartners will leave one hour earlier, at 2:15 p.m., Heywood said.
Heywood said a revised school calendar will be posted soon on the school’s website at moabcharterschool.org. The last day of school will be moved to May 30 instead of May 23, he noted.
“We’re going to have to shift some other dates around, but we’ll get that updated in the next few days,” he said.
For more information, visit the MCS website or contact the school’s administration office at 435-259-2277.