Duna Strachan started with two students in her Park Meadows family room in 1987. Thirty-nine years later, Soaring Wings International Montessori School serves children from infancy through 12th grade at its permanent campus on Old Ranch Road, and its student-led Children's Planet Fund has raised roughly $300,000 for local causes.

The Park City Chamber of Commerce featured Strachan's story in its "Small Town Stories" series, published Friday, July 31. The profile traces how a trained wildlife biologist turned Montessori teacher built one of the Basin's few private schools spanning every age group.

From Orem to Park Meadows

Strachan and her husband, Bruce King, were living in Orem in the mid-1980s but spending Sundays in what she calls a "quiet, unassuming ghost town." They moved to Park City in 1987, drawn by the mountains and the promise of a small community for their young children.

"Park City was just transforming from a ghost town to a nice little ski resort, and we loved the idea of raising our young children in this small, safe and healthy community," Strachan told the Chamber.

She spotted the Bloom property on Highway 224 and imagined a school there. Someone else had already opened a Montessori program weeks earlier, so Strachan launched her own from home, building lessons around the wetlands outside her door.

A waiting list within five years

Enrollment grew fast. Within five years, Soaring Wings had a waiting list. The school moved into the Park City Library and Education Center, then operated satellite campuses across town for years before landing a permanent home.

That home came through a twist: the new owners of the original Bloom property Strachan had eyed in 1987 turned out to be an architect and a city planner. The connection led to the school's Old Ranch Road campus, which opened in 2013 at 1580 Old Ranch Road.

$300,000 raised through student giving

Since at least 1988, Soaring Wings students have channeled fundraising through the Children's Planet Fund. The Park Record reported in June 2023 that the fund had donated approximately $250,000 to local and global organizations. The Chamber's July 2026 profile puts the current total at roughly $300,000, attributed to Strachan.

The school remains under the same ownership and management it has had since 1987. Strachan's family has stayed involved: her husband, daughter, and son have all played roles in shaping the program over the decades.

Still at the door every morning

Strachan, who is pursuing doctoral research on teacher happiness, said her proudest measure of success after nearly four decades is watching former students lead the community.

"The children who grew up here are now running the town and doing it well," she said in the Chamber feature.

Families interested in Soaring Wings can visit the Old Ranch Road campus any school day at 10 a.m. for a tour without an appointment. The school's phone number is (435) 649-3626.