Welcome from Parkside Elementary Principal Heather Nicholas!

It's with a full heart that I welcome you students, parents, and educators to Parkside Elementary. My passion for education and my love for this incredible community are what fuel me every single day. I'm so excited to see our students' smiling faces, to cheer them on as they learn and grow, and to create a supportive environment where they can all thrive. My greatest hope is that every student discovers their unique talents and develops a lifelong love for learning. We can achieve this together, and I strongly encourage parents to be an active part of our school community. Your partnership is essential to our students' success, and I can't wait to see all the amazing things we'll accomplish together!

Parkside Elementary History

During the 1964-1965 school year, planning began for the new Parkside Elementary School to be built on a parcel adjacent to Murray City Park. Crowded conditions in Murray District elementary schools motivated this decision. The design produced was innovative and based on the “open classroom” concept of education which swept the nation in the late 1960s. Parkside was completed to start the 1967-1968 school year, built with open spaces called pods for each grade. Accordion-fold partitions instead of walls dividing the classrooms, designed to encourage team-teaching and free movement from one activity to another. This educational innovation fell out of favor by the mid-1970s partly because the “wall-less“ classrooms were noisy and a fire hazard. Around the same time, another educational experiment, split-grade classrooms, was first introduced in the upper grades at Parkside.

Through innovative teaching practices, frequent progress monitoring and collaboration, Parkside’s academic success continues to increase each year. The school offers many before and after school activities, including: school choir, chess club, origami club, Mad Science, Girls on the Run; and all students participate in an annual Author’s fair where each student writes and publishes their own book. Parkside partners with the Salt Lake Valley Health Department to grow, harvest, and maintain a community garden, and it was the first school in the state to participate in American Cancer Society’s Relay Recess Program, raising over $3000 annually through continued participation.

At Parkside Elementary School, students, faculty, and community members work together and implementing significant and successful changes to increase student achievement. These efforts support the school mission of “Where students reach their greatest potential.”