Seniors at the Winter Sports School are winding down academically and preparing to channel their focus on their respective winter sports. Winter Sports School Headmaster Rob Clayton, said 19 students were scheduled to graduate on Friday in a ceremony to be held at the Egyptian Theatre after press time.

“Overall it was a tremendous group,” Clayton said. “We had a large influx of new students and the atmosphere at the school this year was positive and hard working.”

Winter Sports School senior Sophie Frankenburg started at the school as a sophomore. She said one of the main reasons she enrolled was the reverse schedule, which allowed her to focus on Alpine skiing.

“It was getting really difficult competing and being in school,” Frankenburg said. “The online classes were overwhelming. I benefit from actually being in school with the teachers and it’s more balancing for me to compete at a top level.”

Frankenburg said one of the things she will take away from her high school experience is the friendships she’s established with her peers and teachers.

“I think we really grow as a family because of how small the school is,” she said. “Most of the kids graduating with me, we’re all going to be friends for a long time. I’ll miss the people here. They really helped me a lot throughout the years and set me up for a future.”

Frankenburg also played soccer for Park City High School during her high school career. She said the teachers helped her juggle the compressed schedule at the Winter Sports School.

“I kind of added one more thing to my plate even with the school year being more compact because we’re only going seven months out of the year instead of the normal nine. The teachers are here to help us succeed if we put the time in,” she said.

Frankenburg is applying to colleges, but she plans to take a year off to compete in Alpine ski racing for the Park City Ski Team before starting her freshman year.

George Rodney left his life behind in Colorado to be able to attend the Winter Sports School. One of Rodney’s favorite memories during high school was a road trip for his birthday to Wolf Creek Ski Resort earlier this year.

“We left on Saturday when we figured out the mountain opened,” he said. “We drove 12 hours just to get there. It was easy to find a crew to come, including skiers and snowboarders. It was the best birthday I’ve ever had.”

Rodney said one of his biggest struggles in school was math, but the smaller class sizes and one-on-one time with the teacher helped him succeed in that subject. The Winter Sports School divides its classes into three sections, which helps students focus on certain subjects, according to Rodney.

“I knocked out my entire physics class in two months instead of worrying about that the entire year,” Rodney said. “I’m going to be going to the University of Utah in May and I want to go into engineering.”

Rodney competes on Team Summit, from Arapahoe Basin, Colo., as a big mountain skier. One of his competitions is skiing down the steepest face of the mountain.

“I size up the line I want to take and then see how it ends up. It’s like extreme skiing,” he said. “I wanted a school that was close to the mountains and strong in academics.”

The Winter Sports School reconfigured its block schedule this year, according to Clayton, who said the change is an easier transition from the traditional calendar.

“We had all of our history and art courses at the beginning of the year and the final two-thirds consisted of all our science, math, English and Spanish courses,” he said.

“We’re winding down very gradually. There are final exams going on, but as soon as the snow flies everyone gets a little itchy,” he said. “They have their eyes set on the next prize, which is the ski season.”

Graduates of 2011:

Kieran Ames Adams

Jeanie Metuarua Kinney Bamber

Hunter James Butler

Bridger James Clifford

Gabriela Olivia D’Elia

Samuel James DuPratt

Sophia Marie Frankenburg

Noah Morwood Franklin

Joshua Glen

Eric R. Haferman

Finn Johnson

Matthew Tanner Johnson

Charlie R.W. Leveroni

Charles W.H. Lowth IV

Rainey Pogue

George Williamson Rodney

Maxwell Mark Staples

Andrew James Tassell

Summer Madeline Tomlinson