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Northern Utah boosters launching new private school; voucher program ‘will be huge’

By Tim Vandenack - | Mar 14, 2023
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An undated photo distributed by Chesterton Academy of Northern Utah, which is hoping to launch a private school somewhere between South Ogden and Layton in time for the 2023-2024 school year. This photo is from another school in the Chesterton Schools Network, which has facilities around the country.
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An undated photo distributed by Chesterton Academy of Northern Utah, which is hoping to launch a private school somewhere between South Ogden and Layton in time for the 2023-2024 school year. This photo is from another school in the Chesterton Schools Network, which has facilities around the country.

A new private school is in the works in Northern Utah, aiming to offer what one of the parents spearheading its creation says is a classical education “in the Catholic tradition.”

Plans to launch Chesterton Academy of Northern Utah somewhere between South Ogden and Layton have been in the works for a year, said Martha Ritter, founder and chairperson of the school’s board of directors. Plans call for opening the new school in August for the 2023-2024 school year, starting with a crop of perhaps 12-15 ninth graders and eventually expanding to include 10th, 11th and 12th graders as well.

“It’s pretty solid,” said Ritter, who lives in the Eden area. Organizers are searching for a headmaster and a location for the new school, part of the nonprofit Chesterton Schools Network, which has given rise to a network of schools across the country offering education “faithful to the Catholic Church.”

Plans to launch the new Utah school — potentially serving students from Weber, Davis, Morgan and Salt Lake counties — were well underway before passage during the 2023 Utah legislative session of House Bill 215. The bill creates a voucher initiative starting in 2024-2025, the Utah Fits All Scholarship Program, which provides up to $8,000 per year to eligible students to cover the costs of private schooling.

Ritter, though, says the legislative development is welcome.

“Yes, we do think it will be an asset to our families, very much so,” she said. “The voucher program will be huge.”

Separately, Draper-based American Preparatory Academy had been mulling launch of a private school at the site of the former Capstone Classical Academy in Pleasant View, a charter school that closed in 2020. The owners of the location, though, “went with another deal,” said David Sharette, the American Prep business development director.

The voucher program would have been a boon to the Weber County school, had it materialized, he said. At any rate, American Prep, operator of seven facilities in Salt Lake and Utah counties, is still interested in launching a Weber County location at some point, particularly with creation of Utah Fits All.

“We’ve definitely been eyeing that area for a while. We’d like to get something going up there,” Sharette said.

What’s to become of the ex-Capstone Classical building at 3885 U.S. 89, meantime, remains unclear. The property manager helping market the structure, vacant for two and a half years, didn’t respond to queries seeking comment.

As for the planned Chesterton school, Ritter said organizers are operating independently of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, the church diocese covering Utah. Still, “Christ is in the center of our curriculum,” she said.

The diocese operates Saint Joseph Catholic High School and Saint Joseph Catholic Elementary School in Ogden.

“It is a very set curriculum, established by the (Chesterton) network, that is appealing to a lot of parents,” she said. “I would say it’s a niche market for people who are looking for this type of education.”

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