CAR RIDER PARENTS~
Using our driveway for pick-up and drop-off IS a learning process. We promise Day 1 is always slow and chaotic, but it DOES get easier and smoother (usually by Day 4). Our bell rings and doors open at 7:30. Teachers and Staff are not present to attend to their students until that time. Our afternoon dismissal for car riders is at 3:05.
We have it designed so that 8 cars unload at once and pull away as 8 more pull up to take their place. That process only works smoothly if the first car pulls all the way up to sign #1 and the students know how to exit the car independently and quickly. It is a good idea to practice unbuckling and exiting with their backpacks before the start of school. At drop-off if your child CANNOT exit the vehicle independently, you may park in one of the parking spots and walk them over to the sidewalk via the crosswalk and staff can assist them into the building from that point. At pick-up, if your child cannot buckle themselves back in, please pull into one of the spots once they are in the vehicle to safely secure them into the seat. Having a parent exit the driver seat to perform these duties in the car line slows the process considerably.
Westside parents are given Driveway cards with their child’s name printed on them to use for driveway pick up. This year’s cards are orange. Cards from previous years cannot be used. Each child receives two, but if more are needed for babysitters, grandparents, carpool, etc., you may let us know and we can give you more. These cards need to be placed on the dashboard, passenger window, or someplace visible at pick-up time. We have a staff member that will be in the parking lot relaying names to the staff inside in specific order. This way, we can have your child ready and on their way to the correct pole by the time you reach the building pick-up point. If you arrive or send someone without a driveway card, they will need to park and come to the main office door WITH their driver’s license so we can check to ensure they are on the child’s pick up list. They may be asked to wait.
To keep things flowing when the lot becomes full off Country Club, we always double up the cars in the west bound lane after you have entered the parking lot and rounded that first curve. So please pull to one side or the other in that lane. Then once you are at the end of that westbound lane and are rounding the corner next to Country Club Rd. to head back to the building, cars will begin merging one at a time back into a single file (This is where our staff member will stop you to read your child’s name off the card. If you don’t stop and allow them to do this, your child will not be at the pick up pole and ready, forcing you to have to pull up and park to wait while we get them). Parents using the Driveway are expected to exit the lot by turning right and going to the light at Beebe Capps to keep traffic flowing smoothly.
Please know we are doing the absolute BEST we can to get the students into this routine. We will get better and faster each day that first week and by Monday, we hope have every kid headed home by 3:25. Your patience is greatly appreciated.
