At opening and dismissal, students arrive at Kent Gardens in many different manners: some walk, some ride buses, and some car pool. At no time during the school day are bicycles, skateboards, or scooters permitted on school property.

Safety and Security Procedures for Arrival and Dismissal of Students

 
Below are guidelines and procedures for making sure that students are safe when arriving or leaving school by bus, by car, or as a walker. All of these measures require cooperation and adherence by all involved and should be discussed as a family to make sure that everyone understands. Parents will be asked to fill in a Student Transportation Form indicating how your child arrives and leaves school. This form will need to be returned before the start of school, at Open House, or on the first day of school. Bus riders will receive a colored wrist band as they exit their buses on the first day of school (to be attached to your child’s backpack). The color of the band will match the color displayed in the window of the bus. The child will then be able to identify their bus by color, number, or both. Parents will be given a handout of Safety and Security procedures as they enter Kiss and Ride during the first week.

Bus Procedures

  1. Buses will enter the school from Lumsden St., turn left on Melbourne, and proceed through the entrance to the right and around the circle in front of the school.
  2. Each bus will be assigned a color, identified by a piece of construction paper with the bus number written on it. The bus drivers will be asked to display the colored construction paper at the beginning of the run in the morning and again when they position themselves for boarding in the afternoon.
  3. Once the bus has come to a complete stop, children should exit one row at a time, beginning at the front.
  4. In an effort to make the dismissal process more efficient, bus riders will be dismissed first in the afternoons.
First Week Procedures:
A parent volunteer or staff member will stand at the exit of the bus and attach a color coordinated band to each student’s backpack as they depart. Kindergarteners will be dismissed from the bus first and be escorted to their classrooms after receiving their bands. Older students will be dismissed to go to class.
Classroom teachers will be given extra bands and a key with the bus numbers and colors. They will be asked to make a Student Transportation chart displaying bus numbers and colors, the names of the students who ride each bus, names of walkers, car riders, and SACC students. Teachers should ask students if they are returning home in the same way that they arrived. If any student is uncertain, his/her name should be recorded and reported to the office, where an attempt will be made to either locate the information on the Transportation Form or the parents will be contacted.
Parent volunteers and available staff will be stationed in the halls to help students find their way to class. Each volunteer will need a map of the school.
For afternoon dismissal, parent volunteers and staff members will be stationed in the halls to make sure that students walk safely to their buses. Dismissal procedures may need to be called using the PA system for the first two or three days of school to assure that everyone is alert and ready. Once the procedures are more familiar, silent dismissal can be enacted.

Kiss & Ride Procedures

 
  1. Cars should enter the school by using either Dean St. or Van Fleet St.  They should exit on Lumsden. Cars are not allowed to enter on Lumsden.
  2. The arrows should be followed explicitly until you reach the curb where students will exit. The first car in the loop will drive up to the white line at the end of the sidewalk (the Kiss & Ride stop). Once the loop is full, a red flag is shown to signal that all cars should stop. A green flag will be raised to signal all clear, cars may pass.
  3. In the mornings, students should walk along the sidewalk and proceed to class.
  4. In the afternoons, students will be escorted by their classroom teacher to a staging area on the sidewalk that has a letter matching the first letter of their last name.
  5. When parents arrive, following the same procedures as during arrival, the adult on duty will locate the student in the staging area and escort the child to the car.
*Please make sure that the traffic pattern is followed to assure the safety of the students and to avoid unnecessary traffic hazards.
 
*Parents that enter the Kiss & Ride lane are to remain in their vehicles. Exiting your vehicle in the lane of traffic to help your child with their backpack or instrument is dangerous.
 
*Parents that need to park in the faculty parking lot must use the crosswalk to enter the school, with or without their child.
 
*Kiss and Ride parents, please plan your arrival accordingly, as bus riders will be dismissed first (beginning at 3:10).
*Parents of car riders, dropping your child off at a corner and having them walk the rest of the way is prohibited. This is unsafe, causes unnecessary traffic, and often blocks buses trying to enter or exit the school.  
Walking Procedures
 
  1. Walkers will be escorted from the building by the classroom teacher.
  2. Students should stay on sidewalks at all times and refrain from running.
  3. Use the crosswalk when appropriate and follow the directions of the crossing guard and teachers.
  4. If it is necessary to cross where a guard or adult is not present, look both ways and use precaution. (If you have to run, it is not safe to cross.)
*Parents of car riders, dropping your child off at a corner and having them walk the rest of the way is prohibited. This is unsafe, causes unnecessary traffic, and often blocks buses trying to enter or exit the school.  

In order to facilitate the safe arrival and departure of our students; the traffic pattern for coming to Kent Gardens in the morning and afternoon will be as follows: Coming from Westmoreland Street, PLEASE turn on to VAN FLEET STREET or DEAN DRIVE and enter the school grounds via Melbourne Drive. As you leave the school grounds you should exit via Lumsden Street.

 

Teachers and school personnel are stationed at strategic locations inside and outside the school. Parents and students alike are expected to take heed to the instructions of these personnel. Disregarding these personnel may result in a tragic accident and/or suspension of bus privileges or entering the school grounds in a car pool.

AT NO TIME ARE VEHICLES, OTHER THAN SCHOOL BUSES, PERMITTED IN THE BUS CIRCLE DURING ARRIVAL AND DISMISSAL HOURS.

Anyone entering the circle, or parking in the circle, during these hours will be asked to leave and may be subject to towing.