Daily school activities for most high school students include parking their vehicles on school grounds. Students at Taylorsville High School who drive their vehicles to school use the parking lot for both their morning school arrival and their afternoon school departure, along with the occasional lunch trip. 

Taylorsville High has three parking lots: one on the side of the school, one behind the school, and the faculty parking lot. The lot on the side of the school has the most parking spots, and is where most of the students park. The lot behind the school often fills up first during school mornings, as many students prefer to leave through the exit near it.

According to an article by KSL, school parking lots can be one of the most active and dangerous areas on school campuses, especially during the morning and afternoon rush hours. With many student drivers in one place, awareness and safe driving habits become very important to maintain safety. At Taylorsville High School, students have different levels of confidence when it comes to parking and navigating the lot.

For junior Mateo Sanchez, practice has helped improve his confidence. “I think my parking is good because I have practiced for over 20 hours,” he said. While he says that he doesn’t feel like he learned much about driving at school, he adds that he believes students can improve their parking stills with more practice. He points out that the school parking lot is much more dangerous because many drivers are still learning. 

Other students have had different experiences learning how to drive. Junior Charlotte Dewidt says, “My parking used to be really bad, but over time it has gotten better.” She also shares that her experience with the driver’s education program at the school has made her feel anxious at times, which has affected her confidence behind the wheel. When it comes to the school parking lot, Dewidt says that it is much more crowded and tight. “There are so many cars everywhere. It’s definitely very different from everywhere else,” she comments.

Parking availability also depends on the time of day. With over two-thousand students at the school, around half of them drive themselves to school. Junior Yan Zheng explains that mornings are very competitive. She says, “During rush hour, it is really difficult to find parking spaces.” She also adds, “Sometimes, you would have to go through the whole lot to find a spot.” Sometimes, students will make up their own parking spot next to other cars, outside of the painted lines. However, she includes that finding a spot after the morning rush is much easier.

Parking systems are handled differently at other schools as well. An article from The Forest Scout explains that some schools use assigned parking or give seniors priority parking. While Taylorsville High doesn’t use such systems, it shows that schools organize parking lots in different ways. Taylorsville prefers a more open approach to parking, letting students choose their own spots everyday. The lack of control over the parking lot creates a few problems, the most notable being that students compete over spots and can’t leave in an orderly manner. A few added rules to the parking lot could serve to benefit students.

At Taylorsville High School, parking is a normal part of the school day. Students have different experiences depending on their skill level and schedule. The process of parking becomes easier for students because they gain more experience through their practice. It is a learning curb that students have to climb to pick up how to navigate lots in and outside of school.