As a school community we have been assessing the morning traffic and routines as students arrive each day. We aim to keep all students safe each day and start our day productively at the 7:40 start time. Therefore, we are trying a new approach that will start the car rider line a few minutes earlier each day. It is important to understand that our teachers and staff do not report to school until 7:10-7:15 each day so I cannot staff the car rider line prior to 7:12 each day with staff members “on duty”. Your school’s administration team, however, is willing to be there earlier and allow cars to start moving in the car rider line just a few minutes earlier. We tested this today and it seemed to really help the traffic and flow of the car rider line. There are a few things to keep in mind in doing this so please read the following points carefully:
- The cones will be lifted around 7:03 each day and cars can start progressing toward the drop off area.
- The drop off-line will not have full staff on duty from 7:03-7:12 but there should be one person (most likely Mrs. Francisco or Mr. Smith) out there during that time. Because we are just one person, we will not be able to open car doors and assist students exiting the car (see next bullet).
- Because the area is not fully staffed during this early period it is important that those that are first in the line have students that are prepped and able to exit the car independently between 7:03-7:12
- The other administrator (Mrs. Francisco or Mr. Smith) will be inside the lobby of the school monitoring all the students who are dropped off during this early time period while they wait for the 7:15 bell to ring.
- Parents dropping off during this early period are still expected to follow all morning car rider expectations including staying in line and not going around cars that are unloading. We will attempt our very best to have the cones in place each morning by 7:03 so that cars stay in the lane down at the drop off area.
- At 7:12 the normal staff on “car rider duty” will appear and the line will run as normal until 7:40. Please remember that all students should be in their actual classroom (not just in the front doors of the school) at 7:40 in order to not be marked Tardy.
- Students who are not able to open the car door by themselves and exit the car independently may need to have parents position themselves in the car rider line so that they arrive at the drop off area after the full staff is on duty at 7:12.
- We “tested” this on Friday to see if it would be a possibility and to see if it would help us alleviate the large numbers of students arriving after 7:40 and it really did work and was very successful. Thank you for your cooperation this morning as we attempted this on Friday morning and for all your support these first few weeks of the school year. We greatly appreciate our parents and your partnership!
This week is Constitution Week and all students at Oak Ridge will have opportunities to learn more about the United States Constitution. We are in the process of completing all required beginning of the year safety drills. So far this year your child has already participated in a Fire Drill, Tornado Drill and this past Friday we had our fall Lockdown/Shelter in Place Drill. Please ask your child about our drills and review safety procedures at home as well.
Many grade levels have started planning exciting field trips for the school year. We want to remind parents that the most convenient way to pay for field trips is by creating an account on the
K-12 Payment Center
. You can find the direct link on our school’s website. This program is an easy way to pay for school fees including field trips, lunch money, ACES payments, etc. You can combine payments into one checkout so you can pay for lunch and field trips at the same time and pay the small convenience fee less often by combining payments. By utilizing this system, you can avoid having to write checks or send cash to school. It also saves your classroom teacher a considerable amount of time since he/she does not have to receipt the money. Please contact Becky McKinney, school treasurer, at 336-643-8410 or
mckinnb@gcsnc.com
if you have any questions.
Thank you for your continued support,
Mrs. Francisco
