Park Lane Elementary9955 South 2300 EastSandy, UT 84092(801) 826-9025Justin Jeffery, PrincipalAugust 5, 2025
Dear Park Lane Patrons and Families,
Welcome back! We’re looking forward to having students back in school again. It is going to be a wonderful year at Park Lane. We truly value your partnership in the education process for our students. Here are some important reminders as we look forward to this new year.
Important Information:
A Safer School Year Starts Now – With the first day of school just around the corner, there’s one thing we can all agree on — nothing is more important than our children’s safety. Canyons District invites all families to participate in a new safety awareness initiative, which aims to ensure every student gets to school safely and confidently whether by bus, bike, foot, or traveling by car. Introducing, Canyons’ Safety Squad: a team of teachers, staff, administrators, and city employees dedicated to cultivating a culture of safety in our communities. Watch our social media channels for safety tips or visit our Think Safe safety portal to brush up on smart transportation habits for traveling to school. The campaign focuses on three areas:
Pedestrian Safety – Students should always use crosswalks, listen to crossing guards, make eye contact with drivers, and stay alert when walking to school.
Driver Awareness – Please watch your speed in school zones and on school property, avoid distractions, and watch for crossing guards and buses.
Drop-Off Zone Safety – Every school has unique drop-off instructions. Follow signs, pull forward when directed, and never stop on a crosswalk or block traffic. School drop-offs and pick-ups should only happen on school grounds, not on surrounding streets.
A little awareness goes a long way. Let’s work together to make this school year safe — even before the first-day-of-school bell rings.
Park Lane Specifics:
- We ask parents/guardians walking students up to the school to consider parking off school grounds (on the street, or in a nearby parking lot) and follow the safe walking route to the school. Please set the best example for your students by only crossing streets at the crosswalk, and by not walking through the school parking lot.
- Parents/guardians wishing to use the main parking lot may do so with the understanding that the lot closes for in/out car traffic 8:10-8:30 a.m., in the afternoons from 3:10-3:30 p.m., and on early out days from 1:20-1:40 p.m. (In other words, if you enter the school’s parking lot, please know that you will have to wait until after the gates re-open to exit).
- A drop-off/pick-up only lane is available on the south side of the building. When using this lane please arrange students to enter/exit on the passenger side of the vehicle. Remember to pull up as far as possible to allow multiple cars access to load/unload, and please do not park and exit your vehicle while in the drop-off/pick-up lane.
Back To School Videos and Open House – Our annual Back to School Open House will be Thursday, August 14th from 3:30 until 5:00 p.m. This is a casual opportunity where students and parents can come in and see the classroom, as well as meet the teachers. Additionally, we will be posting short videos with important classroom and school information on our school’s website: https://parklane.canyonsdistrict.org/meetyourteacher/. New videos will be posted by Wednesday evening (August 13th). We recommend that you watch the school’s and PTA’s videos, as well as your student’s teacher’s video prior to coming in for our open house.
First Day of School – August 18th (grades 1-5) – We are rolling out the red carpet again! Students will line up with their classes (we’ll be outside to help new students if they don’t know where that is) on Monday August 18th, and then enter the school on the red carpet! First through fifth grade students (including our ACC classes) will enter via the front doors. Kindergarten will get their own red carpet treatment when they start on Wednesday, August 20th. They will meet on the kindergarten playground.
Online Registration – All Park Lane students must register online every year. If you have not yet completed online registration please do so this week. Online registration information and links can be found on the district webpage: https://www.canyonsdistrict.org/backtoschool/. Our office staff is also happy to assist at 801-826-9025.
Volunteering in the School – Remember that all volunteers need to submit a new volunteer application annually. Volunteers may be subject to a health screening before volunteering and Click here to sign up and/or renew your application: https://volunteer.canyonsdistrict.org/volunteersystem/#!/application/volunteer//
PTA – Please support our wonderful PTA. Thank you, Rebecca Gunderson for serving as our president again this year. Becoming a PTA member supports our school and allows the PTA to keep you in the loop about happenings regarding our school.
School Community Council (SCC) – If you are interested in joining our SCC this year, I wanted to let everyone know that we’re going to get an earlier jump on this this year. Our SCC is comprised of parents like you who are excited to be involved the goings on of our school community. The SCC meets monthly and helps establish the School’s Land Trust, Teacher & Student Success Plan, and set goals for improvement each year. If you are interested in joining our SCC please visit: https://forms.gle/2gPQZvnteFxCKo4o6. Nominations are due August 29th. Our first meeting is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, September 11th @ 6:00pm.
School Time – Just a reminder that our schedule was adjusted slightly last year. School is 8:25-3:15 Monday through Thursday, and 8:25-1:25 on Fridays.
Park Lane is Still RISING! – Our Math and Science RISE scores were released over the summer, and we were once again excited to see how well our students scored on these tests. Park Lane students continue to shine and demonstrate excellence in the state, district and community. I’m happy to share more if you have any questions. We are so proud of our PLE Panthers!
Great Employment Opportunity – We’re still hiring for a couple of part-time positions. If you are interested please reach out and apply at https://jobs.canyonsdistrict.org/human-resources/index.cfm#!/jobs/41.
Staffing Updates – We have a few new faces to welcome to our Park Lane family including:
BJ Weller Assistant Principal
Jennifer Tonga ACC Teacher
Eydie Debry Speech Language Pathologist
Naomi Upton New Recess/Copy Aide
Gretchen Davis New Para-educator
Samira Brewer Moving to Playworks Brain Booster
Morgan Ferran Moving to para-educator position
Allergy Concerns – Canyons elementary schools serve foods containing eight of the nine major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, sesame, and prepackaged peanut butter sandwiches (new this year). We have some students with severe allergies to nuts and other foods. For the safety of all our students, we are requesting that all shared treats (birthdays, rewards, and class parties) be store bought, individually packaged, and be nut-free. This will not change what your child can bring for lunch, but please be cognizant and courteous of students with allergies when making such choices. We will offer a nut-free table in the lunchroom for students with nut allergies.
Important Dates to Remember:
Aug 13th Welcome Back Videos will be posted – please watch your teacher’s video to get important information.
Aug 14th Back to School Open House 3:30-5:00 p.m.
Aug 18th First Day of School for 1st – 5th Grades @ 8:25 am
Aug 20th First Day of School for Kindergarten
Aug 22nd Back to School Student Assembly
Aug 29th Fun Run Kickoff
Sept 1st Labor Day Holiday
Sept 9th Acadience Testing grades 3-5
Sept 10th Acadience Testing grades K-2
Sept 12th Fun Run Fundraiser
Sept 15th School Fun Run Assembly
Sept 16th School Picture Day
Sept 22nd Parent/Teacher Conferences
Sept 23rd Parent/Teacher Conferences
Sept 25th Early Out for all students (THURSDAY Early out)
Sept 26th No student Day (Compensatory Day)
Sept 29th Teacher Professional Day (No Students)
Thank you again for all your patience and flexibility as we start another school year. We appreciate you, and look forward to seeing our wonderful Park Lane Panthers soon!
Sincerely,
Justin Jeffery, Principal