We Found Our Campus. Here’s Why We Took Our Time Getting There.
For months, if you were exploring Wayfinders Academy, the honest answer to “where is it?” was: we don’t know yet. That wasn’t a corporate non-answer dressed up in optimistic language — it was the truth, and we told it to every family who asked. Now we can tell you the rest of the story: we found our home. Wayfinders Academy is at 1890 S 1350 W, West Haven, UT 84401. Here’s why it took as long as it did, and why we think the wait was worth it.
The Short Version
We waited to commit to a building because we were being careful — careful with your family’s time, careful with our resources, and careful about a decision that affects every child who walks through our doors. Rushing into a building because it was available on a Tuesday would not have been careful. It would have been the opposite of careful. And “we signed a ten-year lease on a Tuesday” was never the founding story we wanted.
The Longer Version
There were a few things happening at once, and they were all connected.
First, the practical reality: the right space for Wayfinders depended on how many students would enroll. A space that works beautifully for thirty families would be cramped and chaotic for sixty, and a space built for sixty would feel hollow and institutional for twenty. We’re committed to being fiscally responsible — not because we love spreadsheets (although one of us might), but because financial stability is what lets us keep our doors open, keep our programming strong, and keep our promises to the families who trust us. Private schools in Utah, like schools anywhere, live or die by the strength of their financial foundation. Locking into a lease before we knew our enrollment numbers would have been the educational equivalent of buying furniture before you know how big your living room is. So we let enrollment lead, and location follow.
Second, we knew that many families were waiting on confirmation of their state scholarship award before they could fully commit to enrollment. That was completely understandable, and we weren’t going to penalize families for being thoughtful about a significant financial decision. But it meant our enrollment picture took time to come into focus — and our location decision needed to follow that picture, not race ahead of it.
Third, we genuinely cared about where our families live. Weber and Davis Counties cover a lot of ground, and a location that feels convenient to families on one end of the valley could easily add thirty or forty minutes of daily driving for families on the other end. We didn’t want to choose a spot and then find out we’d accidentally made school a commute problem for half our community. The location needed to serve the families, not the other way around — and West Haven is where that math worked out for the widest group of the families who’d already committed to us.
And fourth, finding a space that actually meets zoning and educational requirements is, to put it gently, more complicated than it sounds. Anyone who has explored opening private schools in Utah knows that not every building that looks like it could be a school is legally allowed to be one. We worked within real constraints, and we’d rather have taken the time to find a space that actually works than moved into something that created problems down the road.
What We Were Actually Looking For
Since we’re being transparent, here’s what we needed the right space to have — and what we found at 1890 S 1350 W.
Room for children to move. Outdoor space where kids can play, explore, and do the kind of unstructured discovery that research consistently shows is essential for development — not a token patch of grass, but genuine room to be outside and be kids. Indoor space for movement and play, too, for when Utah decides to remind us that it is, in fact, winter.
Space for projects. Real ones. The kind where students might be building something, testing something, taking something apart to see how it works, or discovering that their first solution didn’t work and trying again. That requires a room that can handle a little mess and a lot of curiosity.
Flexibility. One of the things that sets newer private schools in Utah apart from more established institutions is the opportunity to build thoughtfully from the ground up rather than inheriting someone else’s infrastructure. We looked for a space where our commitment could grow as we grow — starting with what we need now and expanding as our community expands, rather than paying for square footage we don’t yet have students to fill.
And full accessibility. Every child who wants to be part of Wayfinders should be able to move through the building with ease, regardless of physical limitations. Accessibility was never a bonus feature on our list. It was a baseline requirement.
The Honest Truth
We know that “we’re still looking for a space” felt like uncertainty, and uncertainty isn’t always comfortable when you’re making a decision about your child’s education. Families researching private schools in Utah have no shortage of options with established campuses and polished facilities. We understood the appeal of that, and we never asked you to be comfortable with vagueness. We asked you to trust that the reason we didn’t rush that decision is the same reason we won’t rush any decision that affects your children: because doing it right matters more to us than doing it fast.
We found the right location because the timing aligned, the space genuinely fit our students and our vision, and we made the choice thoughtfully rather than urgently.
That’s how Wayfinders makes decisions. And we think it was worth the wait.
Come see the space for yourself — schedule a visit and we’ll walk you through it in person. This community is how we found our way. That included finding our building.