In May 2023, we sent a survey to Bonneville families asking for input on road safety issues and potential solutions. Thank you for your responses and suggestions. Based on your feedback, we have created a new, safer, and organized drop-off and pick-up procedure for the school. This is similar to what other schools use and the plan has been vetted and approved by the Salt Lake City Department of Transportation, their traffic engineer, and the Bonneville administration and PTO. The new plan will take effect beginning this school year. We appreciate your assistance in keeping our kids safe by following this plan and hope that we can all be patient as the Bonneville community adapts to this new procedure.

Beginning August 2023, parents who choose to drop off or pick up their children without exiting their vehicles will have a safer and more efficient procedure. Kindergarteners will use the loading zone in the front of the school, on 1900 E, and all other grades will access a loading zone at the back of the school, along 2000 E. If you have a kindergartener and older children, you may utilize the kindergarten loading zone for them all.

Kindergarten Loading Zone on 1900 E

Drop-Off Procedure:

• Drive north along 1900 E starting no later than 1300 S. (Please do not access the drop-off line from Princeton Ave as this will complicate the traffic flow.)
• Pull into the kindergarten loading zone in front of the school. Once there, children can exit their cars on the passenger side only.
• Kinder escorts (parent volunteers) will be waiting to welcome your child beginning at 8:30 and help them up the stairs to the kinder playground.

Pick-Up Procedure:

• Kinder parents will receive placards with their child’s name in class on the first day of school. Place it in the bottom-right side of your windshield. This will allow kinder escorts to easily identify which child to bring down from the kinder playground when your car arrives. (If your family needs more than two placards, please ask for an extra one at the office.)
• Drive north along 1900 E starting no later than 1300 S. (Please do not access the pick-up line from Princeton Ave as this will complicate the traffic flow.)
• Pull into the kindergarten loading zone in front of the school. Kinder escorts (parent volunteers) will be waiting to escort your child (and any older siblings) down from the playground.
• Children may enter cars from the passenger side only. Please encourage them to buckle quickly so the car line can continue moving.

Note: This is a loading zone and cars should move through quickly. Parents may not exit their vehicles or park here. If your child needs extra time or parental assistance to/from the playground, you should plan to park on a side street to walk with them.

1st – 6th Grade Loading Zone on 2000 E

Drop-Off Procedure:

• Drive south along 2000 E starting no later than Herbert Ave. (Please do not access the drop-off line from Yale Ave as this will complicate the traffic flow.)
• Pull up as close to the southeast corner of the field as possible.
• You may let your child(ren) exit the car anywhere along the back fence, on the passenger side only.

Pick-Up Procedure:

• Drive south along 2000 E starting no later than Herbert Ave. (Please do not access the drop-off line from Yale Ave as this will complicate the traffic flow.)
• Pull up as close to the southeast corner of the field as possible.
• Children should be waiting along the back fence so they can quickly walk to you when you arrive and enter the car’s passenger side only.

Notes:

• This is a loading zone and cars should move through quickly. Parents may not exit their vehicles or park here. If your child isn’t good at waiting by the fence and swiftly entering your car, you should plan to park on a side street so you can walk into the schoolyard to collect them.
• Please note that there is a heavily trafficked crosswalk immediately past the loading zone. Be vigilant in watching for children. We plan to have a new crossing guard here. Please pay attention to their signals.
• Do not pick up children going north of 2000 E. This encourages kids to cross in the middle of the street and is a safety risk. Utilize the roundabout just one block to the northeast (where Princeton curves into Herbert) to be heading in the correct direction, if necessary.
• Do not pull onto the wrong side of the road on 2000 E. This has been a common practice in the past and is against the law, a huge safety hazard, and will stall the organized, southbound loading car line.

Additional Reminders:

• We encourage all students and families to walk, scoot, or bike to school.
• The new loading zones are for efficient drop-offs and pick-ups. You are still welcome to park legally on side streets and have your children walk (or escort them) to the school.
• The streets surrounding Bonneville are 20 mph zones. Make sure to drive slowly!
• Make sure not to block driveways when dropping off and picking up your children.
• Do not drop off or pick up your child in the staff parking lot. Cars entering and exiting this lot during drop-off and pick-up put walking students in danger. This lot is for school employees only. Parents are permitted to park in the school lot when assisting in the school during the day.
• Whenever possible, be idle-free. Turn off your car and help our environment.
• We are advocating a “Cell Phone Free Zone” while driving to/from or near Bonneville. No call, text, or notification is more important than a child’s life. Please put the phone down.
• If your child has a cell phone, please talk with them about using it responsibly while walking to/from school. Children need to focus all their attention on crossing streets safely and the vehicles, bikes, etc. that are near them.
• Older children should not ride their bikes fast on the sidewalk. This discourages walkers and is a safety hazard.
• Parents should reinforce with children how to keep themselves safe from cars:
  • Use crossing guard-monitored crosswalks whenever possible.
  • Only cross at corners and not in the middle of the street.
  • Assume that drivers cannot see them.
  • Look both ways twice (as well as in front and behind at a four-way intersection) before they cross the street.
  • Look at the driver’s eyes and make sure they are looking back at them and see that the driver is stopped before venturing out to cross the road.
  • Bonneville will incorporate these and other safe walking practices into the curriculum. Please continually discuss all of these safety practices with your child.

Thank you for supporting our school community’s desire to do better for all of our children and the neighborhood! If you have feedback or questions about these plans, please email the Road Safety Committee chair, Lauren Barlow, at laurensbarlow@gmail.com. We welcome your participation! We typically meet the first Monday of the month at 7 p.m. in the Bonneville library and we post regular reminders of meetings on the PTO’s Instagram.  

Bonneville’s motto is learning today; leading tomorrow. May we as parents and guardians also embody this motto in how we adapt and improve our road safety efforts. Thank you for your support.  

SUMMARY:

Kindergarteners on 1900 E

• Place a kinder placard in the bottom-right section of the windshield.
• Drive north along 1900 E starting no later than 1300 S.
• Pull into the kindergarten loading zone.
• Children should enter/exit cars on the passenger side only.
• Kinder escorts will help your child to/from your car and the kinder playground.
• This is a quick-moving line. Parents may not park and exit their vehicles.

1st–6th Graders on 2000 E 

• Drive south along 2000 E starting no later than Herbert Ave. 
• Pull up as close to the southeast corner of the field as possible.
• Children may enter/exit cars anywhere along the back fence.
• Children should enter/exit cars on the passenger side only.
• This is a quick-moving line. Parents may not park and exit their vehicles.