Granite Park Jr. High recognized for excellence with AVID national distinction
Jun 04, 2025 01:42PM ● By Peri Kinder
AVID, Granite School District and Granite Park Junior High officials celebrate the school’s revalidation as an AVID National Demonstration School. (Peri Kinder/City Journals)
South Salt Lake’s Granite Park Junior High (3031 S. 200 East) was recognized as an AVID National Demonstration School, a prestigious designation awarded to only about 200 schools nationwide, including two schools in Utah.
Advancement Via Individual Determination is a college and career readiness program designed to help students gain critical thinking and academic skills that will prepare them for rigorous coursework and professional careers. This honor recognizes Granite Park’s commitment to success through its schoolwide implementation of AVID strategies.
JuleeAnn Rivera, Granite School District college and career readiness outreach specialist, said the school has been an AVID demonstration school for several years and the recognition was for the work done to renew the distinction.
In the program, teachers break down barriers and advocate for students who might struggle with higher education. By creating a college-going culture, the school’s administrators and staff insist on academic rigor and provide students with opportunities and knowledge.
“An AVID demonstration school means that they’ve hit all of the tenets as AVID schoolwide,” Rivera said. “Other schools that are considering having AVID in their school can come and visit here. They can hop into classrooms and see what a high-functioning AVID school looks like.”
Granite Park incorporates AVID procedures schoolwide and offers an elective AVID class that teaches academic focus, note-taking, and collaboration. To close opportunity gaps for traditionally underrepresented students, critical thinking, writing, inquiry, organization, and reading skills are emphasized for all students.
Students at Granite Park benefit from this real-world preparation, empowering them to set and achieve ambitious academic and personal goals.
“It gives students the skill set and tools they need, not just to be college-ready, but to be academically successful,” Rivera said. “They’re better prepared to communicate, they have more confidence and they know what their opportunities are. You see that student agency sparked in them, and once you have that, I think that’s the foundation for success.”
AVID National Demonstration Schools are required to be revalidated every few years to ensure the school is implementing the program with quality and dedication. AVID teachers are expected to create student-centered classrooms to facilitate learning and growth. Expectations are high but Granite Park Principal Chris Griffiths said his faculty has stepped up to create a supportive learning environment.
“What the AVID program does is it gives opportunities to our kids,” Griffiths said. “We have worked hard to be able to maintain this status because it’s an honor and it’s something we’re all dedicated to.”
More than 750 sixth- through eighth-grade students are enrolled at Granite Park, representing dozens of countries and speaking nearly 40 languages. Currently, eight junior highs and seven high schools in GSD use the AVID program.
The national demonstration status makes Granite Park a model site, where educators can observe and learn how to implement AVID strategies. For more information, visit AVID.org.
“We’re celebrating that Granite Park is an AVID National Demonstration School. There are only two in Utah. We were the original and we just renewed,” Rivera said. “The biggest highlight is that opportunity knowledge, taking time to make sure students understand what their opportunities are, what they look like, researching what works best for them.”
