Canyons District may be known for its state of the art schools. But it’s what goes on inside that sets us apart.
Twenty-seven CSD elementary and middle schools topped the charts in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings, earning “Best Schools” badges for display on their websites.
Eight of CSD’s elementary schools are in Utah’s top 25, according to the 2024 rankings, and three middle schools rank among Utah’s top five. An earlier release of high school rankings by the magazine, showed CSD’s high schools claiming five of the top dozen spots in the Salt Lake valley.
Among CSD’s elementary schools, Sunrise was named the No. 1 elementary school in Utah, followed by Peruvian Park, which ranked 2nd in the state. Willow Canyon, Brookwood, Oakdale and Butler are top 20 schools.
Three of Canyons’ eight middle schools placed among Utah’s top five, led by Albion at No. 2, Draper Park at No. 4, and Butler at No. 5.
The U.S. News and World Report rankings echo a recent poll showing broad public support among Utahns for their neighborhood schools and come after Niche.com, for the second consecutive year, ranked Canyons No. 1 for Best School Districts in Salt Lake County. Included in the Niche.com report were public charter schools, all of which were outpaced by Canyons and all but one of which were outpaced by the five traditional school districts in Utah’s most populous county.
In rating schools, U.S. News and World Report looked at test scores from 2020-2021. Schools were assessed on their shares of students who were proficient or above proficient in their math and reading and language arts assessments. Half of the formula looks at the raw scores while the other half weighted test scores within the context of a school’s socioeconomic demographics.
“In other words,” as explained in the methodology, “the top-ranked schools are all high-achieving and have succeeded at educating all their students.”