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Happy November Laurel School Community,
We had a wonderful and fun spirit week to wrap up the busy month of October! Thank you families for your support and showing your school spirit; it is what makes our community great!
We would like to share some news of an opportunity to pave our school parking lot and hope that it will solve some of the challenges we have been experiencing with parking and safety.
History of Project
This may seem sudden however, to give a bit of history, the original estimate to pave the school parking lot was given in 2013 and unfortunately, at that time, the school ended up with more pressing challenges that needed to be addressed and the paving project could no longer be a priority. In the 2018 – 19 school year, our Board of Trustees revisited the prospect of paving the parking lot with a long-term plan but unfortunately in the Spring of the next school year we experienced COVID. Many of our short-term and long-term plans needed to pivot as we had to adjust our focus to the health and safety of our community.
Fast forward to 2023, we began to have the conversation about paving the parking lot again with our Board of Trustees. Now, in 2024, our school community has grown substantially in the last eleven years, and we have worked throughout those years to continue to improve our space to accommodate that growth.
The parking lot paving project is back and within our reach! After meeting with our Board of Trustees, who unanimously voted yes to this project, we are going to take advantage of an opportunity that has presented itself through our friend Phil and his crew at Mr. Handyman!
We will be moving forward with a fast-paced paving project for our parking lot that will not only improve the challenges we have been experiencing but also construct new paved pathways to the school to eliminate trip hazards and create a safer environment for all students, families and faculty.
Four Phase Project - Timeframe
This is a four-phased project that will be weather dependent and heavily reliant on your support. The project has already begun with prep work this weekend and will continue over the next three weeks which is the most effective time frame for our school schedule.
This is an approximate schedule, and we will keep the community updated if there are any changes!
Phase One – Prep – Already in process – no parking affected yet*
Phase Two – Wednesday, November 6 – Friday, November 8, 2024
Phase two will begin approximately mid-week, paving the large side parking lot. We will have live drop off and pick up at the front door of the school that will require patience and understanding from everyone. We will do our best to create a flow of traffic with people helping monitor cars in and out of the school.
During Phase two, cars will be directed into the driveway and into the school circle where administrators and faculty will be supporting getting students from cars into school. Then families will move out of the circle and to the main driveway to exit the school.
For pick up at school, we will utilize the same system, and your children will be ready for you at the door. We will have a system in place, to alert staff for student pick up and students will be ready to go at their designated pick up times.
Phase Three – Monday, November 11 – November 15, 2024
We will keep families updated but the same procedure for drop off and pick up will be utilized as phase two and if there are any changes we will make all families aware.
Phase Four – Monday, November 18 – November 22, 2024(*then we leave for Thanksgiving break)
This will potentially affect drop off at the front door and the circle area however, we will keep families aware of drop off and pick up procedures, however, we hope to go back to normal parking since both lots should be completed.
What will this affect moving forward?
Pick up and Drop Off Procedures & Billing
- We are aware this will disrupt our drop off and pick up procedures, however, it will only affect 11-12 school days. Administrators have created a plan that will help with traffic flow and challenges while this project takes place.
- To support families, the times for pick up and drop off will be extended from 30-minute staggered timeframes to a one hour staggered timeframe for the duration of this project. We will also adjust our school policies regarding billing to further support families as well.
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Adjusted Drop off and pick up schedule times, with policy billing change details will be sent out by Monday, November 4th. We will make families aware when it will be best to return to our normal school hours and billing policies.
- To create an efficient and organized drop off, please have your child’s belongings ready for staff to grab quickly and easily. There is no need for families to exit their vehicles as staff will support your child(ren) getting out of the car/car seats at the front door area.
- During drop off and pick up times, ONLY during this project if families would refrain from driving with any work trucks/large work vehicles with trailers to avoid any traffic back-ups
Conferences
We will have November conferences as scheduled however we will pivot from in-person meetings to zoom meetings with families/teachers. Conference week runs from Tuesday, November 12 – Friday, November 15, 2024.
Map of Phases
A map is attached that designates each phase of the project. As stated, phase one, prep, has already begun including tree removal, dig safe, permitting and temporary relocation of our recycling bins.
We are extremely excited to have this opportunity offered to our community and ask that if everyone could bear with us during this time, it would be greatly appreciated! Again, we will be sending more defined details by the end of day Monday and if there are any questions, please direct them to the front office! Thank you!
Best,
Amy LaFranchise
Head of School
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