SOUTH JORDAN, Utah — Inside Paradigm Charter Schools in South Jordan, you can't help but feel a sense of pride from those who call this school home.
"I nominated Paradigm High School because it's a lot smaller of a school than your regular public school," said student Josh. Earlier this year, Josh sent a Cool School Nomination to Fox 13 News, which resulted in it being chosen for our Cool School of the Week this week.
Paradigm Charter School is different from many others as it focuses on classical education and uses original sources rather than textbooks.
"We teach how to think, not what to think, which is important to us," said school director Fernando Seminario.
The school helps build strong leaders and students who care about service. Every year, the school has a service week, where they pick five charities and do service projects for them. They also have a Penny Wars fundraiser — this year, they raised money for Odyssey Charter School in Altadena, California. The school burned down during the L.A. Fires, and Paradigm was able to raise over $15,000.
"I think a world without service is not a world worth living in," said one student.
Inside the classroom, teachers are called mentors, and the Socratic learning method is used heavily. In one class, students discuss an assigned book where their insight was beyond their years.
"You should always read a book for a second time because you always find more information than you did the first time reading it," said another student.
Paradigm isn't just a high school; they also have a seventh and eighth grade program, and they are adding a sixth grade program in the Fall of 2026.
"We're reading, writing, we're discussing great books, but we do also a lot of hands-on activities," said teacher Jennie Hall when asked how her students prepare for high school.
Paradigm loves to highlight their classroom, but they also love to highlight the extracurricular activities students can get involved in, like soccer, basketball, volleyball, band and orchestra, and more.
At the end of the morning, Granite Credit Union surprised band teacher Daniel Burt for all the work he had put into the band over the last four years.
"On behalf of Granite Credit Union, we want to give you that certificate and donation," said Granite Credit Union Administrative Assistant Riley Hatch. "Thank you for everything that you're doing at Paradigm and continue your efforts with the band group."
"That is very kind," Burt said. "We're doing a lot of fun things. We're excited to see where we can go from here."
