Paradigm High School

Paradigm High School is a charter high school in South Jordan, Utah, United States.[2][3]

Paradigm High School
Location
11577 South 3600 West, South Jordan, Utah

United States
Coordinates40.5410°N 111.9758°W / 40.5410; -111.9758
Information
TypeCharter school
Motto"A Different Kind Of Think"
Established2006
School districtUtah Charter Schools District
DeanFernando Seminario
PrincipalFernando Seminario
Grades7-12
Enrollment575 (2016-17)[1]
Color(s)Red, white, and blue
AthleticsBasketball, soccer, volleyball, flag football, softball, taekwondo
MascotPatriot
AffiliationUtah State Office of Education
Websitehttp://www.paradigmschools.org

History

Paradigm was organized as a charter school under the Utah State Department of Education. It received its charter on July 13, 2005, and opened in September 2006.[4]

Academic Performance

2 years ago The Utah State Board Of Education gave Paradigm High School an F grade (based on a 38% proficiency on the SAGE test) for its performance in the 2015-2016 school year.[5] These rankings are based primarily on the SAGE test scores.[5] Coincidentally, Paradigm also has one of the highest opt out rates for the SAGE test at 54%[6] testing in the state.[7]

Due to the high SAGE opt-out rate by parents, Paradigm uses the ACT for internal performance tracking. The school has administered the ACT to all High School grades twice per year since the 2014/2015 school year. For those years, the student ACT opt out rate has been below 5% and average ACT scores have been equal to or slightly better than state averages.[8]

Ethnic diversity

As of the 2016-2017 school year, Paradigm High is in the bottom 1/3 of schools for ethnic diversity.[9] At 14%, Paradigm has a slightly higher ethnic diversity than the city in which it operates (South Jordan),[10] which has an ethnic diversity of 9.1%.

Courses

Paradigm offers a variety of courses in addition to standard courses, such as Novel Writing, AP Environmental Science, and taekwondo.[11] Among its wide variety of English courses are one on the writings of C.S. Lewis, and classes about Western and Eastern World, French, Gothic, and British (including Shakespeare) literature. It also offers Latin, ASL, German, Spanish and French.

Leadership

Unique to Paradigm High School is a class called Leadership, which is offered in three levels:[11] Foundations, Transitions, and Scholar. Its focus varies at each level:

  • Foundations is a course rooted in the fundamentals of a Paradigm education: study habits, goal-setting, personal accountability, self-reflection, and the basics of group discussion and shared inquiry, as well as an introduction to great books, people, and ideas. It is for students just starting on their path towards self-education.
  • Transitions is a course that is, indeed, a transition; geared toward students who have started along the scholar path, the goal of this course is to provide practical experience in the Paradigm model, while helping the students to develop a sense of their own individual mission.
  • Scholar is the most advanced Leadership course: a rigorous study of great literature and ideas, as well as their practical application. This is preparatory for the students' continuing education and experiences beyond Paradigm.[12]

This course is now integrated into the Seminar Course, which is a classics-based blend of English, Leadership, History that meets in a double block class.

Athletics

As a small, liberal arts high school, Paradigm is not a member of UHSAA and therefore does not participate in the high school athletics program. Students can choose to participate in their local District high school athletics programs while attending Paradigm in order to get the best of both worlds.

Paradigm does support a strong intramural sports program, with the basketball teams receiving second place (girls') and first place (boys'), and the girls' volleyball team winning second place.

Paradigm offers Standard PE classes as well as Dance and TaeKwonDo.[13]

Extracurricular activities

Paradigm has many extracurricular activities and competitive teams. The Paradigm Chess Team (PCT) took third in the 1A-3A division in the Utah High School Chess Championships two years in a row,.[14]

Paradigm also supports an excellent Academic Decathlon team. In March 2011, they beat reigning state champions Park City High in Super Quiz, one of 10 categories, and the most competitive, by 5 points out of a possible 6,000.

New in 2011-2012 was a mock trial team. Their first competition was February 24, 2012 against Mountain View High School. More recently, in 2016, the Mock Trial team advanced past the first round of competition and competed again a few weeks later.

References
  1. "Paradigm High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  2. "Paradigm High School". Paradigmhigh.org. 2014-05-30. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-03-18. Retrieved 2010-03-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Utah State Charter School Directory". Archived from the original on 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  5. "PARADIGM HIGH SCHOOL School Grades - USBE Data Gateway". Datagateway.schools.utah.gov. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
  6. Jacobsen, Morgan (2016-05-10). "Opting out of SAGE test is on the rise". Deseret News. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
  7. Jacobsen, Morgan (2015-10-08). "State School Board: Parental opt-out law doesn't apply to civics test graduation requirement". Deseret News. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
  8. "State standards". Paradigmmath.weebly.com. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
  9. https://www.schools.utah.gov/file/68bf784e-5cf4-48c1-a5c7-c3eb943cbb6d
  10. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/southjordancityutah/PST045217
  11. Larissa Little, Jun 3, 2013, 11:44 AM (2013-06-03). "Credit Descriptions - Paradigm High School". Paradigmhigh.org. Archived from the original on June 30, 2016. Retrieved 2017-07-14.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. "Course Descriptions (Paradigm High School)". Archived from the original on 2010-02-11. Retrieved 2009-12-22.
  13. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-04-13. Retrieved 2017-04-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. https://secure6.userservices.net/clarkwork.com/utahchess/index.php?showpage=results.php&event=124&result=76%5B%5D
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