The new Charger in charge is a familiar face to the Corner Canyon High community

Dina Kohler, who was among the corps of school counselors who helped open the doors of the Draper school a little more than a decade ago, is the new Principal at Corner Canyon High. Her appointment was approved Tuesday by the Canyons Board of Education.  

“I feel like I am coming full circle,” says Kohler, who is currently an Assistant Principal at Hillcrest High and also has served as an Assistant Principal at Jordan High. “This is a community that I love and that I served with all of my heart. I feel like I am going back home.” 

The Board of Education on Tuesday, July 11, also approved three other appointments. 

The Indian Hills Middle community will welcome a new face to the principal’s office. Shelly Karren, who most recently has served as Assistant Principal at Alta High, will succeed Doug Graham, who will be an administrator on special assignment. Graham has been Indian Hills’ principal since 2015.

Also, Otis J. “OJ” Gulley will serve as an Assistant Principal at Hillcrest High instead of Alta High, as was previously announced. Brandon Jacobson, the Career and Technical Education Coordinator at Alta, will become an Assistant Principal at the home of the Hawks.  

Kohler succeeds Darrell Jensen, who resigned to become the Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education in the Provo City School District.

With the appointment, which is effective immediately, Kohler becomes just the third principal of Corner Canyon High, following Jensen and CCHS’s inaugural principal, Mary Bailey. “I am so thrilled about this,” Kohler says. “It almost feels that our hard work 10 years ago to open the school set so many things into motion, and now I get to go back” and help advance the tradition of excellence for which Corner Canyon High is known. 

Kohler, who earned her graduate degree at the University of Utah, is quick to note that in 10 short years, Corner Canyon has quickly become a powerhouse in academics, the arts, and athletics. In fact, the U.S. News and World Report ranks 2,300-student CCHS as the No. 1 traditional comprehensive high school in Utah. The school ranks No. 7 overall, even when compared against small, early-college and STEM-focused charter schools.  

Corner Canyon, which notched state championship titles in boys basketball, boys track and field, boys lacrosse, boys tennis, and cheerleading in the 2022-2023 school year, also boasts an award-winning performing-arts department. 

Regardless of the event, though, boosters turn out in drove to cheer for the Chargers. CCHS seats are always packed, be it for the opening night of the fall musical or the Homecoming game under the Friday Night Lights.  

“Corner Canyon High feels like it belongs to that community,” says Kohler.  “I want that to continue.” 

She also wants to make sure that every student – and their families – feel connected to the school.  The counselor-turned-administrator who is the first in her family to graduate from college seeks to make sure all CCHS families know that, in her, they “have someone in their corner.”  

Without hesitation, she says one of Corner Canyon’s strengths is the quality and commitment of the faculty and staff.  “I want to remind and validate how much our teachers do for our kiddos.”