Superintendent – Kim Goates
Kim Goates is originally from Brisbane, Australia, though she has now spent more than half her life in the US. Kim started educating her own children at home more than 30 years ago and has owned and run several businesses during that time. She has a tremendous love of and passion for learning and teaching. This love and passion, joined with her entrepreneurial spirit, led her to take the reins in February 2016 of Canyon Grove Academy, and create one of the most unique schools in the state.
Immersed is the best way to describe Kim’s search for a better education model for student, parents, and, ultimately, schools. With her experience as a homeschool mom, she took the deep dive into creating, designing, implementing, and now maintaining systems that bridge the gap between homeschooling families and charter schools through a hybrid distance effort. Students thrive and parents love that their voices are heard at Canyon Grove due in large part to Kim’s efforts.
Mrs. Goates has a contagious passion, love, and enthusiasm for life, her family, and learning. She embodies Mark Twain’s famous quip about not letting school get in the way of him learning. While Kim appreciates there are laws and rules governing education, her efforts clearly point to a focus on individualizing learning for each student. When she is not at work refining Canyon Grove’s efforts with her team, she can be found working on the farm at the school, tending to the animals and plants. When the rare moment finds her not at the school, she can be found enjoying her great family, playing the piano, and looking for ways to do more to get access to learning opportunities for kids and their families.
Director- Becky Pili
Graduating from Brigham Young University in 1993, Becky has worked in the field of education for nearly 30 years. For 21 years, she taught numerous grade levels in both the elementary and secondary systems of the Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nevada. She worked for several years in the Provo School District and joined the administrative team of Canyon Grove Academy in 2017. Becky is passionate about the field of education and has served on district multicultural education committees and data review boards as well as mentored teachers, student teachers, and staff as they began their journey in education. She has a firm belief that “It takes a village to raise a child” and has used this African proverb as the theme of her career. She loves to facilitate learning for her teachers, students and families and knows that together we achieve more than we will ever achieve apart. Becky believes that lifelong learning is modelled for students by her own desires to grow throughout her career, and she approaches each day with positivity and excitement for education. She loves to facilitate collaborative learning and allows that passion of working as a “village” to drive her career as well as her student’s educational journeys.
On a personal note, Becky and her husband have 8 beautiful children and in laws and 3 amazing grandbabies (so far)! Their mantra is faith, family, football and fishing and any free time can find them in one of those places. They are a football family as their sons currently play for her alma mater….Go Cougs!! Polynesian culture binds their family with strength and love, making every day a celebration of life!
Becky.Pili@canyongrove.com
Middle School Director – Darren Beck
Darren Beck is joining Canyon Grove Academy as the Middle School Director. He brings 26 years of experience with him as an administrator, teacher, consultant, program manager, and substitute teacher during that time in California and Utah. Mr. Beck’s 19 years in Utah also saw him serve as a member of the board for the Utah Association of Public Charter Schools, serving 3 years as Board chair, and as one of several founders of the Utah Charter Network. He has assisted with the writing and other support efforts with 12 charter schools. Darren has established great contacts and friendships with people across the country involved with education choice and reform efforts and over time has a solid working relationship with various leaders in a number of state charter school support organizations and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. He is a committed supporter of student voice and parent choice.
As a parent, Darren and his wife, Paula, have six graduates of Rockwell Charter High School in Eagle Mountain, the youngest having graduated in 2021. Paula developed and teaches at a successful preschool in Eagle Mountain that now has three locations. They were married in Salt Lake City in December of 1992. He became very interested in education and issues around human growth and development while living in southern Chile from 1983 to 1985. A graduate of California State University, Chico, Mr. Beck is a devout believer in education and how it can transform a person’s life. While he was not always a great student at Yuba City High School in northern California, he graduated on time in June 1982. Darren self-describes as a life-long learner and gets as excited when he learns something new as when he sees the eyes of students light up when they learn. He feels it makes life far more interesting.
Mr. Beck is excited to work at a school that values individual students and seeks to meet young people where they are instead of forcing them to be like everyone else. He believes that out-of-the-box thinking and doing, as long as it is legal and ethical, is the only way to address education as we head deeper into the 21st century. While he appreciates that some people need the familiar and known compartments, he believes that the world is anything but routine and wants to help students and support parents as they navigate it all.
Darren.Beck@canyongrove.com
Curriculum Development- Debbie Cluff
Debbie is passionate about helping youth make the most of their potential. She is an educator, author, entrepreneur, wife and mother. Debbie has written books, hosted talk radio shows, coached high school cheerleading, been a successful blogger, and designed and built her own websites. She’s spent more than fifteen years teaching and coaching young minds and is excited to work with your student.
Born and raised in Pasadena, California, Debbie graduated from California State University Los Angeles with a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts and a master’s in Elementary Education. She has three teenagers and an amazing husband who keep her smiling. Her favorite thing to do is sit at the pool and drink a Diet Coke.
Debbie.Cluff@canyongrove.com
Tasha Anderson
Office Manager
Registrar@canyongrove.com
Cindy Mahan
Receptionist
Cynthia.Mahan@canyongrove.com
Holly McRae
Library Administrator
Holly.Mcrae@canyongrove.com
Brooke Larsen
Library
Brooke.Larsen@canyongrove.com
Special Education
Special Education Director – Sheri Berard
Sheri has a deep love and passion for her students, and believes strongly in creating a safe learning environment for all students. She grew up in Southern California and has been in Utah since summer of 2006. She has a dual license in both elementary education and special education. Sheri received her masters degree in education with an emphasis on trauma and resilience in June of 2021. When she is not working she is with her husband and two boys (who are now all grown), her cats, and bunny. She loves reading and watching crime drama books and shows.
Sheri.Berard@canyongrove.com
Special Education Teacher – Tatiana Walters
I recently graduated from Utah State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology. I had planned to be a Biology teacher, but decided to switch paths when I discovered a passion for being a special needs teacher. My number one goal as a teacher is to teach kids that they matter! I am originally from California, but I came here for school and never left. In my free time I like to cook, bake, play pickle-ball, read books, and go swimming. I am so excited to be a teacher at Canyon Grove!
tatiana.walters@canyongrove.com
Maddi Beck
Para-Educator
Lindsey Mcomie
Para-Educator
Angela Plough
Para-Educator
Makayla Rawson
Para-Educator
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