GENERATIONS BID FAREWELL TO SPRING LANE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AT OPEN HOUSE

Walking through the halls of Spring Lane Elementary on May 11 was surreal for the Carpenter family. Siblings Zeland, Xerafina and Zenli loved their time as students there. They came to the farewell open house with their mom to see the school one last time before it closed at the end of the school year.

“It’s sad that it’s getting torn down. It’s weird to come back here and walk through the halls and smell the smells. It seems so small now. When you’re in elementary school, all you really know is your own school, and it seems so big,” said Zeland, who is a student at Cottonwood High.

Zeland’s mom Sisa Carpenter was nostalgic, too. “We like how this school is tucked back inside a neighborhood and not right off a freeway. It feels like it’s surrounded by homes and is being hugged by the neighborhood,” Carpenter said.

Granite District decided to close Spring Lane along with Millcreek and Twin Peaks af-

By Heather Lawrence | h.lawrence@mycityjournals.com

ter several population studies and rounds of town hall meetings. Most of Spring Lane’s students will now be in Oakwood’s boundaries. It’s been an emotional decision for the community.

Carpenter’s daughter Xerafina has only been out of Spring Lane a couple years, so the memories are still fresh.

“I have a lot of memories of the computer lab for some reason. It’s a special place to me. And I loved going to the library. The librarian had a very mesmerizing voice, and I remember sitting there and listening to stories,” Xerafina said.

The library was a favorite stop for lots of people. Vassi Maritsas is the librarian at Spring Lane. At the open house she rem-

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The Carpenter family was nostalgic walking through the school at Spring Lane’s farewell open house. L to R: Zeland, Xerafina, Zenli and Sisa Carpenter. (Heather Lawrence/City Journals)

Ambulatory Surgical Center

Grand Opening

Open House

Sports Performance

Open House on

Thursday, June 15 from 6-8:00 p.m.

Entrance 2

Grand Opening

Friday, June 16 from 2-4:00 p.m.

Ribbon-cutting, tours, lunch and more!

Continued from front page inisced with her sister Tia Athens and other friends and colleagues.

“It’s a special place for me. I call the books ‘my babies,’” Maritsas said. Maritsas and Athens both attended Spring Lane—which was originally known as Meadow Moor—as students, and then came back to work there.

“There are a lot of people whose families came here for two or more generations,” Maritsas said. Her daughter also attended Spring Lane.

Amy Calara of Sugar House hadn’t been back since she finished elementary school in 1993. She was surprised at how tactile and visual the memories were for her as she walked the halls and took pictures.

“I remember running my hands along