St. Clement School Carpool Prococess

Saint Clement School is vigilant in the pursuit to keep students, staff and visitors safe. Families are encouraged to pay close attention to the newly developed arrival and dismissal procedures. The cooperation of everyone involved is necessary in order to avoid potentially dangerous situations and to keep traffic flowing smoothly.

Mandatory Carpool Safety Procedures

1. Be alert and stay in your car until you are directed by a staff member to begin helping your children out of the car.  

2. Do your best to arrive at your designated time. It is imperative we avoid unnecessary delays.

3. Have your family name card posted in your windshield or driver’s side window.

4. Resist your urge to text and use electronic devices. All it takes is one small distraction to hold up traffic, bump a car or worse injure a child or pedestrian. 

5. This is a congested area with high volumes of traffic. It is important to be neighborly in our actions by being considerate of the residents and following procedures.

Arrival

1. Students may arrive at school starting at 7:45am.

2. Families who walk to school may drop their children off at the appropriate door. There will be adults out front to greet them and walk PreK-K students to their classrooms.

   • PreK through Grade 3 students will enter the school via the South door.

   • Grade 4 through Grade 8 students will enter the school via the North door.

   • If a younger student would like to be walked to their classroom by an older Saint Clement sibling, they may enter through the South door together.

3. If your students are getting dropped off in a vehicle that is coming through the carpool line, the vehicle will need to head north on Orchard, turn right into the alley, and pull through the parish parking lot in two lines (just like you did last year for arrival and dismissal). We are doing this to avoid congestion on Orchard and to keep it as clear of traffic as possible.

4. After going North through the parking lot, all carpool vehicles will pull to the West (school) side of Orchard for arrival drop-off. A staff member will be there to help your child out of the car; students in Kindergarten and above are asked to exit their vehicles on their own. Please give hugs and kisses either at home or before pulling up to the school so we can keep the line moving. If you have a PK3 or PK4 student that you will need to help unbuckle, we ask that you pull forward towards the gym before stopping your vehicle and getting out of your vehicle so we can keep the line moving.

5. Students signed up to ride the bus will be dropped off in front of the church. A staff member will assist them across the street.

6. Students who arrive after 8:00 will be marked tardy.

Dismissal

1. All students will be dismissed outside at the end of the day and will wait in a designated location with a teacher until your arrival. However, on inclement weather days, we will keep students inside the school and call them as caregivers arrive.

2. If you need to pick up your child/ren for an appointment at the end of the day, you will need to pick them up by 2:30 pm. If you can not make it here by 2:30pm to pick up, then you will have to wait for regular dismissal time outside at 3:00pm.

3. All students will exit the building by 3:00 pm. PreK and K classes will exit a few minutes prior to 3:00pm.

4. Supervised walkers will be waiting for caregivers on the North stairs. Caregivers of supervised walkers should not enter the carpool line. Instead, a caregiver should approach the North door and let the staff member there know who they are picking up.

5. If your students are getting picked up in a vehicle that is coming through the carpool line, the vehicle will need to head north on Orchard, turn right into the alley, and pull through the parish parking lot in two lines (just like you did last year for arrival and dismissal). We are doing this to avoid congestion on Orchard and keep it as clear of traffic as possible.

6. Carpool students in Grades PreK3 through Grade 2 will be dismissed on the West (school) side of the street. Siblings of these younger students will also be picked up on the West side. So if you have a child who is in PreK3, but also one in 3rd-8th, you will pick up all of your children on the west side of Orchard (school side). Families with the youngest child in Kindergarten through Grade 2 will be given a YELLOW placard with your family name on it. **NEW THIS YEAR** Families with their youngest student in PK3 or PK4 (full day) will be given an ORANGE placard with your family name on it (if you did not receive yours yesterday, your child will bring your placard home tomorrow). We ask that families with orange placards pull up further towards the gym on the West (school) side of the street. You may need to get out of your vehicle to buckle your PK student, so we ask you to pull forward in order to keep the rest of the line moving. Please have your placard on your dashboard each day at dismissal.

7. Carpool students in Grade 3 through Grade 8 will be picked up on the East (Church) side. You will be given a BLUE placard with your family name on it (if you did not receive yours yesterday, your child will bring your placard home tomorrow). Please have your placard on your dashboard each day at dismissal. If your youngest child is in Grade 3, we ask you to pull up as far forward as possible, whereas if you are picking up a Grade 8 student, you can stop closer to the corner of Deming and Orchard. Older siblings should line up near their younger siblings. For example, if you have a Grade 4 student and a Grade 7 student, the Grade 7 student should line up near the Grade 4 student.

8. Students signed up to ride the bus will gather in the gym and be picked up just outside the gym doors.