Hundreds of applicants competed for a limited number of teaching openings in Canyons School District this year, and the dozens who landed jobs spent this week learning how to use them.

First-year teachers gathered Monday, Aug. 3 at Union Middle School in Sandy for the district's weeklong PEAKS orientation, a crash course in classroom management, lesson planning and district expectations. The program wraps up before all K-12 students return Monday, Aug. 17, according to the district's 2026-27 calendar.

For Draper families with children at Corner Canyon High School (projected enrollment: 2,169) or Draper Park Middle School (1,364), the orientation means their students' new teachers will have had at least a full week of structured preparation before the first bell rings.

Competition is steep

HR Director Tiffany Midgley, who joined Canyons in January 2026 after leading special education programs serving more than 9,500 students at Davis School District, told KSL that teaching positions are becoming increasingly competitive, with hundreds of applicants vying for a limited number of openings each year.

"My advice for first year teachers is giving yourself grace," Midgley said at the orientation. "You'll get better every year, and every year will feel more comfortable, but what I also know is that these folks are going to be changing kids' lives starting next week."

Utah welcomes roughly 3,000 first-year teachers statewide each school year, with just over half being recent college graduates, according to Utah State Board of Education spokesperson Marie Denson.

New faces in the classroom

None of the named first-year teachers profiled at the orientation are assigned to Draper-area schools specifically, but several will teach at nearby Canyons middle schools that feed into the same district pipeline:

• Kaitlynn Johnston, a seventh-grade science teacher from Iowa, starts at Butler Middle School in Cottonwood Heights. She said even third-year teachers still get first-day jitters.
• Will Fluetsch, a Brighton High School alumnus, will teach eighth-grade math at Indian Hills Middle School in Sandy. He discovered his calling while tutoring young Afghan refugees.
• Bethany Crandall, a recent BYU graduate, will teach family consumer sciences and digital literacy at Eastmont Middle School in Sandy.
• Heber Clawson, a Brigham City native, will teach Spanish at Union Middle School in Sandy.

What PEAKS means for parents

Assistant HR Director Kelly Tauteoli, a former school principal who oversees secondary hiring, told the Deseret News that first-year teachers face a giant mountain of planning and that getting the hang of classroom management is the biggest early challenge. She encouraged parents to approach new teachers directly with questions rather than assumptions.

All new Utah teachers are required to have a mentor, and Canyons' PEAKS program layers district-specific coaching on top of that state mandate.

What's next

Teachers return to buildings the week of Aug. 10. Sixth- and ninth-grade orientation is a half-day Friday, Aug. 14. The first full day for all K-12 students is Monday, Aug. 17.