Students in Alpine School District return to class as administrators prepare for split in 2027

LEHI — It's back to school Wednesday for kids in Utah's largest school district. As many people know, the Alpine School District won't be the largest for long; in two years, it's splitting into three new districts.

But the big question everyone is asking – what does that mean for kids right now?

For kids, it's just the start of another school year, but if you ask the district, the superintendent said the upcoming split is the No. 1 question he gets all day, every day.

Overall, it's an exciting day for kids in the Alpine School District. Students by the busload are now back in school, looking forward to the new year.

"I'm excited, yeah, I'm excited to meet new teachers, and I'm excited for my classes," said Sophie Grossen, a ninth grader at Viewpoint Middle School.

"I feel like the summer went by really fast, but it was a really good summer, so I'm ready to be back," said Capri Pitcher, an eighth grader at Viewpoint Middle School.

Students are excited to see their friends back at school.

"I'm excited to just hang out with them, and just like, you know, just make new friends," said Levi Brutsch, an eighth grader at Viewpoint Middle School.

Their schools are thrilled to have them.

"We've got teachers in place, everyone's hired, everything's cleaned, everything's good to go, so we're ready to run," said Christian Smith, the principal at Viewpoint Middle School.

The new school year comes as the Alpine School District is preparing to split into three smaller districts in 2027. The first day back is also coming off the heels of Tuesday night's primary election in Utah County, revealing which candidates running for the three new school boards are moving on to the general election in November.

The district superintendent said that's when we'll really start seeing how the new districts will take shape, and possible changes for kids and schools. In the meantime, he said he's telling everyone to stay focused on teaching.

"You can get distracted; we all can be distracted by this. I've invited people to stay focused, stay on their game, and help us achieve even higher levels of learning this year and next year. And it's going to be tough because those distractions will be there," said Robert Smith, superintendent for the Alpine School District.

How tough will that be? Smith said, "We'll see." Moving forward, the district will start working behind the scenes on making the handoff to the three new districts. The superintendent felt that if they do their jobs right, it won't affect kids at all.

"I believe there's a lot of risk as we move forward, but I'm a positive person and I believe that we have the team, we have the educators, we have the staff to manage that trickiness and do it in a forward-thinking way," Smith said.

On top of it all, the district wants to let kids get caught up in the excitement of going back to school.

The same scenario is playing out Wednesday at schools across the district, and it's 85,000 students. For them, it's all about a new year.

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