Parent Pick Up and Drop Off Info

While we have had a great start to our school year, we are having some concerns with our parking lot and traffic backing up onto the highway that I would like to share.

We have 172 students this week that have end of the day plans that call for parent pickup. I realize that those numbers will change next week once we have settled into a routine, but we will still have a large number of parents picking up their students and it is causing traffic issues on Hwy 534 and Conway Hill Rd. As you make your student's default plans, please remember that we have buses that can take your student home, including a park n ride bus for our transfer students. I would encourage you to choose the bus rather than parent pick up.

With our small parking lot, it makes it very difficult to get cars in and out quickly if we don't all do our part to make it easier. We do have guidelines (see below) and our staff really don't like being put in the position of being traffic enforcement officers, but there will be times that we will need to ask individual parents to follow the guidelines we have listed below for the safety of our families.

Parents should NOT be getting out of their vehicles in the drop off lane unless you are at the far north end (see guidelines below). We would ask you to model responsible behavior by walking your student to the cross walk and not cutting through cars and crossing the drive up lane.

We ask you to respect our neighbors and if you do have to wait on Conway Hill Rd, that you do not block their driveways.

For those new to the school and our returning parents as well, there is NO parking in the drive up lane during drop off and pick up times (marked in yellow below)

We have crosswalks for everyone's safety and we expect everyone to use them. If have had a number of families park in the lot and then walk through the cars and cross the drive up / pick up lane. We want to keep you and your student(s) safe, so please use the crosswalks, they literally take an extra 30 seconds of waking in our little parking lot.

- We ask that everyone stay in their cars during drop off to facilitate quick movement of the line. The first few days, especially for kindergarten students can be very stressful, if you need to get out of your car with them, please park in the parking lot and walk your student to the staff near the Conway School sign.

- CELP students: Families can park in the lot and bring your students on campus and walked directly to the CELP classroom. In the afternoon you can park in the lot and wait for your student by the brown bollards next to the large Conway School Sign

-For student safety, no students will be allowed to walk to or from the parking lot on their own REGARDLESS of age!

Parking Lot Expectations:

We expect drivers to be kind, caring and cooperative with other drivers and staff. Be very diligent with your driving through the parking lot to ensure everyone's safety.

- Allow drivers coming from the east down the Highway to "zipper" into the parking lot.

This prevents back up on the highway. It's illegal for drivers to do a U Turn on the Highway, so they can't just go past the line and U-Turn into the line.

- We NEED you to pull as far forward as you can, well past the corner where kids are waiting. Your child will walk down the sidewalk to your car.

- PLEASE talk with your student about safely walking to your car and not approaching it until the car stops. AND not RUNNING next to your car to catch up. Once they get to the car, they need to immediately get in and buckle up so we can keep things moving.

- Once the line starts moving, we would ask you to put your phone down. It only takes a second for this distraction to cause an accident or for a driver to hit someone. It also causes a backup in the line when the driver is paying more attention to their phone than to their environment.

- Highway and Conway Hill Rd. etiquette.

• Please do not block the intersection of Conway Hill Rd
• Please don't block driveways on Conway Hill Rd
• Do not stop your car on the shoulder at the corner of Conway Hill and Hwy 534, our buses need to exit from Conway Hill onto the highway and cannot see traffic if cars are parked at the corner.
• We know it's difficult on the highway once cars are backed up the highway to Conway Hill Rd. where the shoulder disappears. It's safer to be on Conway Hill Rd. than on the Highway if the line is long. We are working with the state on some solutions to this area.

Please be respectful to those in line and do not drive through the parking lot to jump ahead of others in the line.

ALL students will be picked up in the drive up lane and NOT in the parking lot unless noted below

Please remember that ALL passengers in a car should be seated and buckled, we have had a number of small children standing up, hanging out windows, and obviously not buckled up as parents drive through. If you are waiting for a long time and unbuckle them, please have them return to their seat before you start moving through the line. This can easily cause an accident with kids grabbing/jumping onto the driver, opening a door, or falling when the car stops suddenly.

Park N Ride bus (Bus P)

• This bus ONLY runs in the afternoon
• It is specifically for students who live out of district.
• If you are new to the district and want your child to ride Bus P, you MUST contact Angela Pederson in the District Office prior to them riding. 360-445-5785 Ext. 5509 or by email