Simulated gunfire echoed through the halls of Trailside Elementary School on Tuesday as officers and deputies stormed the building as part of an active shooter training exercise.

“The importance of it is working together so that we are familiar with each other,” said Park City Police Department Lt. Danielle Snelson. “These live-scale exercises give officers critical skills and mental conditioning to respond in worst case scenario situations, such as an active shooter in an elementary school.”

The Park City Police Department, Park City Fire District and Summit County Sheriff’s Office participated in the exercise with the cooperation of the Park City School District. There were also 30 volunteer actors inside the building, each was assigned to act as a victim with specific injuries. 

As law enforcement entered the school, they were tasked with neutralizing the fake school shooter before finding victims to either help them escape from the building or to escort medical teams inside to provide care for those with critical injuries.

“We have our rescue task force that works with our police officers,” Snelson said. “The rescue task force is part of the fire department, and they work together to go in sooner than it used to be. It used to be a little bit of a delayed process, but right now, they train so they can go in sooner to help save lives.”

Snelson said the training required months of coordination between the multiple departments involved and that the Park City Police Department tries to participate in similar exercises at least once a year.

“The more that officers can do these (full-scale) live trainings, the more that it’ll be embedded into them to respond appropriately in these critical situations,” Snelson said. “Having it here at the school puts it into a real-life perspective.”

She added that it’s important for officers and deputies to practice responding to schools to be familiar with their layouts in case of an emergency.

“It makes this scenario a little more real than if they were doing it in a warehouse because we know that there are students here,” Snelson said. “There are students, there are classrooms and there are pictures on the wall. It makes it a little more realistic for officers so that they can have that mental headspace to be able to do that accordingly.”

Snelson said that to her knowledge, the Park City School District has not had an active shooter in its schools before, but the police department is often called to respond to potential threats. Those threats typically turn out not to be as severe as initially thought, but Snelson said it’s better for people to call when they have concerns instead of erring on the side of caution.

“We’ve been very lucky,” Snelson said. “We have a lot of teachers who are very cognizant. We have (a) community that, if they see something, they say something, and that’s very important to us. We would much rather get those calls of a potential threat and show up and have it be a mistake than for somebody to see something and not call us and have it be too late.”

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Trailside Elementary School will have a new head administrator in the fall following former principal Tricia Wilbourne’s departure halfway through the school year.

The Park City School District hired Wilbourne to fill the position last spring and offered her a one-year contract set to expire this summer. However, district officials confirmed last week that Wilbourne is no longer serving as principal.

They did not explain the change, saying the district does “not comment on personnel matters.”

Parents concerned about the seemingly abrupt change told The Park Record that Wilbourne alerted the Trailside School Community Council of her contract’s termination earlier this year. Wilbourne was reportedly informed about her termination shortly before winter break but planned to stay until the end of the school year.

However, the school district sent parents an email last week saying that Wilbourne would be leaving the position immediately, with Career and Technical Education Director Tracy Fike taking over as interim principal. Fike previously served as Trailside’s principal before transitioning to career and technical education last summer, which opened the door for Wilbourne’s appointment.

The school board on Tuesday unanimously voted to hire Alane Gaspari, a longtime Park City educator who is currently an assistant principal at Ecker Hill Middle School, to fill Trailside’s principal position next school year. She will officially start on July 1.

“Gaspari has been a cornerstone of the Park City School District since 2007, with a career deeply rooted in elementary education,” the school district said in a press release on Wednesday. “Her experience includes teaching first and third grades, serving as an interventionist and holding the position of student services dean for both McPolin Elementary School and Jeremy Ranch Elementary School.”

The press release said Gaspari is a graduate of Columbia University and has served on the board of directors for Park City Reads, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping readers with dyslexia.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Alane Gaspari into this new role at Trailside,” said Superintendent Lyndsay Huntsman. “Alane’s institutional knowledge, combined with her expertise in literacy and student services, makes her the ideal leader to build upon Trailside’s success. She’s a proven advocate for student growth who understands the unique spirit of our community.”

The school district said there will be opportunities for families to meet with Gaspari before the school year ends, “with details to be shared in the coming weeks.”

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The father of a former Trailside Elementary School student is suing the Park City School District for allegedly causing his daughter emotional distress by refusing to discipline a teacher accused of verbally abusing her pupils.

Bryan Knepper filed the lawsuit in Summit County’s Third District Court last week. He stated his daughter attended Trailside Elementary School from 2023 to 2025, when she experienced “ongoing trauma and abuse” by her teacher.

However, the court filing does not indicate the manner in which the daughter experienced the reported abuse, nor does it provide documentation detailing communications with the teacher or the school district about the alleged incidents.

The court complaint states that Knepper spoke to the district about his concerns, though, and that the administration “failed to take adequate steps to protect” his daughter. Knepper said he subsequently removed his daughter from the school district and enrolled her in a Salt Lake Valley private school, “resulting in significant tuition and related costs.”

“Counselors and educators determined it was in (the daughter’s) best academic and emotional interest to repeat the fifth grade due to the trauma she experienced,” the complaint said. “Plaintiff has incurred substantial financial and emotional damages as a result.”

Knepper’s complaint accused the district of negligence, educational negligence and intentionally inflicting emotional distress. He stated administrators “failed to prevent or remedy the abuse despite prior reports” and pointed out the district’s responsibility to care for and protect students.

“(The district’s) failure to act caused (the daughter) to suffer harm, lose educational opportunities and incur unnecessary hardship,” the complaint said.

Knepper concluded the filing by requesting $29,970 in “tuition and related educational expenses,” as well as a minimum of $300,000 for “emotional distress and loss of educational opportunity.”

He also filed a second lawsuit, with the same information and demands, specifically naming the teacher as an individual.

The Park City School District said it is aware of the recent filing but declined to comment on the case, citing ongoing litigation. No hearing dates had been set as of Tuesday.

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Trailside Elementary School is getting its own mascot and official school colors almost 25 years after the building opened its doors in 2001.

Principal Tracy Fike, who will soon transition into a new role as the school district’s Career and Technical Education director, proposed formally adopting an elk mascot with a red, white and black color scheme, telling the school board that it was time for Trailside to “solidify and unify” its visual identity.

“We’re finding we’re the only school without actual school colors,” she said last week. “We’re the only ones who never had them. I don’t know why, but we’ve never had official colors, so people just choose colors, so there was nothing ever consistent.”

Red, white and black are the colors families have most often used to represent Trailside Elementary School, so Fike suggested formalizing the color scheme, which she said also aligns well with other schools in the district.

“I think the most exciting thing is we are looking at adding an elk as our mascot, partly because we’ve spent mornings chasing them off the playground,” Fike said with a laugh. “We’ve become good elk herders, but we want to keep that same Trailblazer theme but have a good image to go with it.”

Fike said it would also be fun for students to have an elk mascot, considering the kids’ excitement whenever they see elk near the school building.

“This has mainly involved staff input, but we thought it would be fun once we do have an elk to involve the students in naming the elk,” Fike added.

The school board unanimously approved the elk mascot and new color scheme during its meeting on June 17.

Trailside Elementary School is the second school to change its color scheme in recent weeks. 

The school board in May approved Ecker Hill Middle School’s proposed red, white and navy blue color scheme following a previous board decision in November to transition the school to the Miners mascot starting in the 2025-26 school year.

Incoming Ecker Hill Principal Isaiah Folau said keeping blue as a tertiary color allows students to feel connected to the Park City High School Miners while still retaining their own identity. He specifically commented on the blue color scheme currently seen throughout the school building and his inclination to align official colors with the motif reflected in hallways and classrooms.

He also pointed out a desire to stray away from sameness in athletic uniforms, especially when compared to other secondary schools in the region. Administrators felt the dark navy color would complement the red and white while offering versatility. The importance of spirit wear, signage and branding materials was also emphasized as the middle school builds its athletic program.

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The Park City School District and Park City Community Foundation on Tuesday presented four Kindness Awards to recognize students and staff who demonstrate inclusive values for their campus communities.

“As a district, we believe this is more than an award. It’s a reminder of who we are and who we strive to be,” said Superintendent Lyndsay Huntsman. “It celebrates those who break barriers, build belonging and champion a culture where everyone belongs.”

The school district launched the Kindness Awards this year as part of its We All Belong campaign. The program received nominations for potential award winners from all seven district schools, and students were recognized monthly by their building administrators.

The selection committee for the grand prize intended to choose only one winner from the pool of nominated individuals, but they were unable to settle on just one person, according to a district press release. Instead, school district officials, including Huntsman and a handful board members, surprised four schools with a visit on Tuesday to present two students and two staff members with a cash prize.

The Park City Community Foundation contributed $18,500 to the Kindness Awards program. Students who won the grand prize were given $500, while staff members were awarded $1,250.

“We believe these awards have had a positive impact this school year allowing the values of kindness and inclusivity to not just be taught, but to be lived and experienced across our community, shaping a more compassionate future for all our local kids,” said Joel Zarrow, president and CEO of the Park City Community Foundation.

The Kindness Award grand prize winners were Park City High School Associate Principal Bob Edmiston, Jeremy Ranch Elementary School Community Outreach Liaison Ketzel Morales, Treasure Mountain Junior High ninth grader Easton Jones and Trailside Elementary School fourth grader Shepherd Williams.

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Trailside Elementary School ranks 10th in the state out of more than 950 schools, according to a recently released report by the Utah Board of Education.

“It’s exciting for our school because, Trailside, we have a lot of experienced teachers here, and I think with that recognition, it’s just fun to know that all the hard work you’re doing is paying off,” said Trailside Principal Tracy Fike.

The Utah State Board of Education’s rankings include elementary, middle and high schools that receive state funding. Only private schools are excluded, meaning Trailside Elementary is ranked 10th out of all magnet, charter and public schools in the state.

The other top 10 schools consist of charter schools, like the Utah County Academy of Science in Orem and the InTech Collegiate Academy in Logan, as well as a few public schools in the Salt Lake area, such as Granite School District’s Eastwood Elementary School and Cottonwood Elementary School.

Other Park City schools varied in the rankings. Parley’s Park Elementary School, for example, was the next-highest ranked school in the Park City School District, landing 30th on the list. 

Ecker Hill Middle School was the lowest-ranked school in the Park City School District, ranking 162nd in the state.

To compile the rankings, the State Board of Education assessed schools based on four criteria: achievement, growth, English learner progress and growth of the lowest performing 25% of students.

“As a district, we’ve seen a lot of improvement in a lot of our schools, and I think a lot of that comes from the work we’re doing with our teachers in professional learning communities,” Fike explained. “We really have focused on standards, so knowing your standards, assessing your standards, talking about how we’re teaching it.”

Fike said that all of the Trailside teachers have a positive, collaborative attitude, which she believes has contributed to the school’s success. Teachers instill in their students the idea that they can do well in class and then work together to develop strategies for growth and achievement, she said.

“It’s even simple things, like having your content objectives on the board,” Fike said. “Are you really clear in what you’re teaching, and do the students know why you’re teaching it? What’s our goal today? In the last couple of years, we’ve been focusing on that, getting kids to talk in complete sentences, using language, especially for our multilingual learners, getting them to speak and use academic language with sentence starters and things like that instead of being able to just repeat or give one-word answers.”

The collaborative nature of Trailside extends beyond teacher-to-teacher interactions. It also includes teachers’ interactions with Fike, as well as Fike’s interactions with other elementary school principals in the district.

“We don’t work in silos as a district,” Fike said. “I would say years ago that there was a little more isolation, but we’ve really come together, and our teachers know that. We’re not afraid to learn from the other schools.”

Trailside Elementary also offers specialized opportunities during the school day, including coding, music, art and physical education. Fike praised the Parent Teacher Association as well, noting that the community rallies around the students and helps provide opportunities for them, too, like running groups and an RC car club.

“We have amazing programs at the high school, and I think that really starts with what we get here,” Fike said. “Kids are exposed to it, and all kids are exposed to it. It’s not just kids that can afford it or that have time after school, but they get it during the school day. I think that’s really important.”

Fike emphasized that nothing Trailside Elementary does would be possible without its staff, from office employees to teachers and administrators. While she’s excited about the school’s ranking, she said what’s really important is that kids feel successful and like they belong.

“We are in just a really good place where we feel supported, and we have a lot of efforts right now on belonging,” she said. “That goes through every aspect of a student’s day and the staff’s day. I think we can feel that, that we are a community and that we are rallying together. It does start at the top, and we feel supported. We’ll always have challenges. We’re in education, and we’re dealing with humans, but I think we’re in a good collaborative space right now as a district where we’re all really moving forward together, and I think that trickles down to the students.”

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If Mark Etheridge had any doubts about how much his students love him, they were quieted last month.

Etheridge, a longtime kindergarten teacher at Trailside Elementary School, was one of eight educators in the Park City School District honored April 28 during the Park City Education Foundation’s annual Doilney Excellent Educator Awards. In celebration, Etheridge’s students, elated their teacher had won, mobbed him in a group hug that dragged him to the ground.

Afterward, he said he was grateful for the hug — and for being recognized as one of the best educators in the district. The awards are voted on by each school’s staff, so the honor was particularly meaningful for Etheridge, who has taught in Park City for 24 years.

“It was a great honor,” he said. “It meant a lot to me to be recognized by my peers and colleagues and the education foundation. I take my work really seriously and it’s important to me, and I do my best, so to have your peers recognize you is a great honor. I work with really good people within the district and within the school, so their recognition means a lot to me.”

The other educators honored this year were: Kelly Yeates, Park City High School; Niko Jensen, Treasure Mountain Junior High School; Dan Gallery, Ecker Hill Middle School; Patti Davis, Jeremy Ranch Elementary School; Rachel Taylor, Parley’s Park Elementary School; Kathleen Gibson, McPolin Elementary School. Debra Alcox, a math teacher at PCHS, was given the Sarah and Stephen Doilney Award, an honor voted on by the senior class for the teacher who most inspired them.

Jen Billow, associate director of communications and development for the education foundation, said the awards are special for everyone involved in putting on the ceremony, which involves an entourage — including the PCHS marching band — that travels to each school to announce the winner. The best part, she said, is that the awards are not just for the winner. Every educator who gets nominated receives the comments the staff members who voted for them wrote in the balloting.

“A ton of teachers get those comments,” Billow said. “It’s a great day because you open up your mail and, even if you didn’t win, you get to read all these great things your peers are saying about you. I think that’s just a great feeling for them.”

Given that, the awards celebrate the profession of teaching as a whole as much they honor any one individual, Billow said. It’s a wonderful reminder near the end of the school year that the Park City community values the contributions teachers make to the lives of children.

“We do live in a really special community,” she said. “We’re really lucky because the majority of people here believe in public education. And people come here from all over. They come here and there’s a whole community that supports public education and a good education for every student. There’s a feeling of, ‘It’s not just about my own student — we’re lifting up the whole community.’ The support for the teachers goes along with that.”

For Etheridge, it doesn’t matter much who wins the awards each year. He said the joy is the same whether he hears his name called or the name of another teacher at Trailside. What matters more is the validation of the hard work of every educator in the school district and the shared value of helping children become their best selves during their school years.

“You want to have every kid succeed,” he said. “I love the academic part of it, but the social and emotional stuff is more important to me because if they’re not happy at school and don’t feel like they can be successful, then there’s not much point in it. You want them to leave the grade feeling better about their abilities than when they came in. … Helping them reach their potential is really what it’s about.”

For Billow, it’s all the better when that validation comes in the form of students mobbing the winning teacher.

“We love seeing that and we love how excited the students get,” Billow said. “It is just so much fun when that name is read. And it isn’t just their own class that erupts into cheers — it’s the whole auditorium. To see the reaction and how much joy the kids have, and all the hugging and high-fiving, is a great feeling for us.”

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