Arrival/Dismissal Procedures

Arrival/Dismissal Procedures

Your child's safety is one of our greatest concerns. Our responsibility is to make sure each child leaves the school grounds with a responsible and designated adult. To this end, we dismiss students to particular areas to be checked out by an adult supervisor before leaving school grounds.

See the map below for a visual display.

  • There will be NO ENTERING the side parking lot during the hours of 8-8:30am (M-F), 3:00-3:30pm(M, T, W, F) and 12:00-12:30 (Thursday). We hope this will eliminate congestion, will allow for the buses to enter and exit safely, and will ensure further safety for the students in this area.
  • There will be NO VISITOR PARKING on the side or back of the building. This area will now be for STAFF PARKING ONLY.
  • PARENT/VISITOR PARKING will ONLY be permitted in the FRONT OF THE BUILDING(the majority of staff will now park in the back and side of the building). There will be no parent/visitor parking on the side of the building nor in the back of the building.
  • STUDENTS WHO ARE WALKING will now be dismissed through the FRONT DOOR of the school. Students will no longer congregate in the back parking lot. Parents should meet their children at the front door (the door with the overhang). Those walking directly home will be permitted to do so through the front door.
  • KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS WHO ARE WALKING will be dismissed at the same door but will be walked to the front of the building to meet the other walkers. (2 staff members, in addition to 1 Kindergarten teacher will be on duty at this location.)
  • There is NO LEFT TURNS out of the school parking lot during the hours of 3:00pm-3:30pm (M, T, W, F) and 12:00pm-12:30pm (Th).

HELPFUL TIPS

  • Parking is permitted along both sides of the circle.
  • Join the live pick up parking area. Students are dismissed within 15 minutes of the bell. It is quick, efficient, and safe.
  • Consider carpooling with people in your neighborhood.

For those picking up students, (whether they are walkers or car pick-ups)here are some of the rules that the staff members are trying to enforce with the students.

  1. No playing in the snow or on the ice.(While the kids may be dressed adequately for this, with moving cars,and so many people, due to safety, it is not permitted during dismissal.)
  2. Children who are walking, and those picking them up, should congregate closer to the playground than the front door. (We are suggesting that the students walk towards the corner of the sidewalk and playground area to meet parents/people picking them up as walkers.)
  3. Children are to stay behind the yellow line. (Those meeting students should be cognizant of this. Please leave enough space for people to pass by on the sidewalk.
  4. During live pick up, students are ONLY permitted to enter cars on the passenger side door (that is, the sidewalk side). It is not safe for them to walk around the cars. Please adjust accordingly.
  5. NO ONE should exit the vehicle in the live pick up lane. Staff members are there to help students enter the cars.
  6. Students being picked up by car are not to enter cars until they pass a yellow line marked on the sidewalk.

 

Dismissal Procedure

 

SAFE DROP-OFF PROCEDURES

SAFETY is of the utmost importance. Everyone is in a hurry in the morning, but we need to have everyone cooperate in order to both create a safe drop-off situation and to move the cars through as quickly as possible.

Drop off works most efficiently if we have as many cars as possible unloading AT THE SAME TIME.It's the same principle that gets you through the checkout at the store more quickly if there are a lot of cashiers instead of just one or two.The space in front of the school along the fence can fit about a dozen cars, so ideally twelve cars pull up, twelve cars simultaneously drop off, and twelve cars leave so that the next twelve can do the same.

Remember these two simple guidelines:

  • Pull up as far as you can.If there are no cars in the driveway, pull all the way down to the end of the fence, near the fifth grade door. If there is a car stopped in front of you, pull up as close as you can to that car. Please do NOT stop at the main entrance (exceptions for children with injuries, large projects to carry, etc.). Please do stop for pedestrians at the crosswalks and avoid blocking a crosswalk when you stop.
  • When you stop, drop off. This is the one that seems to get people confused. We do want you to pull up as far as possible, but when you do stop ANYWHERE along the front of the school, that is the time to have your child/ren  exit the car. If you stop again at the end of the driveway, you are also forcing all of the cars behind you - those who have already let their children out - to stop again. This also reduces the number of new cars that can get into position to let out their children. Essentially,it slows everything down.

Two more things to remember:

  • If you have to get out of your car to help your children out, please consider entering on the left side of the fence and parking in the visitor spaces in the front of the building.
  • Please keep your personal electronic devices put away when you drop off. We need your attention for the safety of the children, so save the phone calls, texting, Facebook updates, etc. for later.