Kindergarten is a critical year in a child’s education–and to make sure students get off to a strong start, Canyons District has expanded the number of hours some of its kindergartners spend in the classroom.

Starting on Wednesday, Feb. 13 at 10 a.m., Canyons District will begin accepting online applications for its Supplemental Hours of Kindergarten Instruction program for the 2019-2020 school year. Students must be 5 years old by Sept. 1, 2019 to participate in the opt-in, tuition-based program.

Space is limited and applications are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Phase one of the application window will close at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 2, and computers will be available at Canyons schools for families who do not have Internet connectivity at home.  

Those students who are accepted into the classes will receive nearly four additional hours of instruction every school day. Enrollees begin and end school at the same time as the school’s first- through fifth-grade students. Click here to see the bell schedules for all Canyons schools. 

Now heading into its fourth year, “the program has really taken off,” having grown in the number of students enrolled and the number of schools offering it, says CSD’s Instructional Supports Director Dr. Amber Roderick-Landward. The program aligns with the District’s half-day kindergarten programs and caters roughly to the same population in terms of student demographics–and initial data shows students are benefitting from extra time in the classroom.

“Students in supplemental kindergarten outperform their regular kindergarten peers in reading and miss fewer school days,” Roderick-Landward says.

The application can be accessed at the bottom of the Frequently Asked Questions page.  Simply click the blue button that says “Start.” 

Cost for the program is $2,950 a year, and can be paid in monthly installments, August-May. A 10 percent discount is available for parents and guardians who pay the yearly tuition in full at one time. There also is a one-time, non-refundable registration fee of $100. 

Financial-need scholarships also are available for qualifying students. Parents may apply for the financial assistance at the same time they submit enrollment applications. 

The District plans to offer the classes at the following 17 elementary schools:

–  Alta View
–  Altara
–  Bell View
–  Bella Vista
–  Brookwood
–  Butler
–  Canyon View
–  Crescent
–  Lone Peak
–  Midvalley
–  Oakdale
–  Park Lane
–  Quail Hollow
–  Ridgecrest
–  Sprucewood
–  Sunrise
–  Willow Canyon
–  Willow Springs*

Keep in mind, however, the program can only be offered at these sites if at least 20 students have enrolled in the program. Also, because Willow Springs has reached its enrollment capacity and is on moratorium status, their Supplemental Kindergarten program is limited to students who live within the school’s geographic boundaries.

Children who qualify for transportation services will ride the kindergarten bus with morning-session kindergarten students and will ride home with the afternoon-session kindergarten students.  

Efforts will be made to enroll students at the school closest to their homes – but the District cannot guarantee placement at any specific school.  Placement notifications will be made by March 12 for the families who submit applications during phase one of the application window.  

Questions?  Call 801-826-5045 or send an email message to  communications@canyonsdistrict.org.