Elementary School Drop-Off and Pick-Up Procedures

School Start Time & End Time

• School breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m.

• Students eating breakfast may enter the cafeteria between 7:30 and 7:40 a.m. Students who are eating a school breakfast should be dropped off at the front of the building and enter through the far west door.

• Supervision on the playground begins at 7:40 a.m. Students arriving before 7:40 a.m. need to remain with their guardian until the gates are opened by staff. There is no staff supervision until 7:40 a.m. Students will enter through the back gate or through the west front door entrances beginning at 7:40 a.m.

• The school bell rings at 8:00 a.m. Students will be allowed to go to their classroom to begin preparations for classes.

• Any student arriving after 8:00 a.m. must enter through the front office to receive a tardy pass to class. Parents must walk students into the building and sign them in after 8:00 a.m. 

• Students arriving after 8:00 a.m. will be considered tardy. On inclement weather days, students will be directed to the gymnasium for indoor drop off where they will be supervised by adults.

• School dismissal will be from 3:05 p.m. to 3:25 p.m.

Drop-Off Procedures

Students may be dropped off in the following areas in the morning: Garden Drive, Diamond Valley East, and Academy Court. Students dropped off on Diamond Valley East will walk up the sidewalk toward Garden Drive and cross the street with a crossing guard. In order to ensure a smooth and efficient drop-off process, please follow these guidelines:

• Use your designated drop-off location as outlined in our maps.

• Stay in your vehicle at all times. Do not park your car and walk your student into the building.

• Prepare your student(s) to quickly exit the car with backpacks and water bottles in hand.

• Drop-off lines are meant to continually move. Pull your vehicle all the way forward until the drop-off line has stopped.

• Students will always enter or exit a vehicle from the sidewalk. Students should not walk around the vehicle into the street.

• Do not wait for staff to come and open doors.

• Using a blinker, merge from the drop-off line into ongoing traffic to allow cars to pull forward, filling empty spaces.

• Do not make a U-turn at anytime. By following our designated routes, drivers should never have to make a U-turn. 

Pick-Up Procedures

Group Designations for Pick Up

School dismissal will be from 3:05 p.m. to 3:25 p.m. To ensure traffic flows efficiently, we have divided our families into two groups.

• Group 1: Families with elementary students only.

• Group 2: Families with students in both buildings. Families with students in both buildings will have a Driveline number that will be underlined.

Pick-Up Locations & Driving Instructions

Walking or Biking Between School Buildings

Designated student walkers will be held until 3:25 p.m. Students are considered to be walkers if they walk home, to a parent’s local business, or to the middle/high school. 

To help increase safety for students walking to and from the schools, safe walk routes have been designated. The safest route to walk between the elementary school and the middle/high school is by using the sidewalks along Automation Drive and Garden Drive. There will be a morning and afternoon crossing guard at the intersection of Automation and Garden Drive.

Other information

Pick-Up Change Request: If a pick-up location needs to be changed permanently, please complete the After-School Pick-Up Changes Request Form at least 24 hours prior to the desired date of change. Possible reasons for change can include carpooling, being picked up by a childcare van, attending onsite ABC After-School Care, biking or walking home, or needing a location change. Immediate changes to pick-up plans need to be called in to the receptionist prior to 2:30 p.m. that day. 

Student Check-Out Procedures: Students being checked out before 3:05 p.m. will need to be signed out at the front office. All students being checked out prior to 3:05 p.m. will have their early release recorded in Infinite Campus.

From 3:05 to 3:15 p.m. students are in their classrooms packing up and staff members are preparing the Driveline app. Interruptions to this process limits our ability to release all students in a timely manner. If a parent checks out their student during this time, students may be held until 3:15 p.m. so as not to interrupt the process. In addition, pickups made after 2:30 p.m. are discouraged due to the potential loss of instructional time.

Private Property: Neighboring business parking lots are private property and should not be used as a location to pick up students.

Driveline

Our elementary school uses three pick-up locations and uses the Driveline Dispatch System for our dismissal process. Families do not need to download an app on their phone; the app will only be used by staff.

Each family will be assigned a Driveline Dispatch ID that will be emailed prior to the start of the school year. Parents will print out the ID number to display on their car visor or window each day at pick-up. The ID numbers will be used to alert teachers to dismiss students to waiting vehicles.

Drivers should remain in their vehicle and display their Driveline number in their windshield. Please do not get out of your car to give your Driveline number to staff.

Below is a typical scenario of how Driveline works for families:

• Cars begin lining up at the designated times and pick-up locations.

• Using Driveline Dispatch, staff members will enter the family IDs and location of the waiting vehicles.

• Students who have been queued up will be dismissed to the appropriate pick-up locations based on where parents are waiting.

• Staff will continue to enter family IDs for additional vehicles as they pull forward in the line. As they do, the names show up in the classrooms immediately and the students are dismissed.

• Parents of students who require an ID check for pick-up will join the daycare van pick-up location on Academy Court. Guardians will show their ID to the staff member on duty for the student to be released.

• Students designated by parents to walk or bike home will be dismissed at 3:25 p.m.

• All students not released will be dismissed at 3:25 p.m.

MoDEL COURTEOUS BEHAVIOR

• Do not park in designated staff parking lots or at surrounding private businesses, including at Snaptron or Future Legends Sports Complex.

• Do not talk on your cell phones while driving to ensure the safety of all our students.  

• Utilize a crosswalk at all times. Encourage your student to do the same.

• Drivers should remain in line and not cut in front of others.

As always, please remember that safety comes first and foremost!

Inclement Weather and DELAYED START Times

For school closure Windsor Charter Academy will follow the Weld Re-4 school closure recommendation. If Weld Re-4 is closed, Windsor Charter Academy will also be closed. Closure information will be posted on our website, communicated through email and shared with local news and radio stations.

In the event that Windsor Charter Academy designates a 2-hour late start, students should NOT be brought to school before the start times listed below. Supervision by staff will begin at 9:45 a.m.

• Drop off begins at 9:45 a.m.

• First bell rings at 10:00 a.m.

• Tardy bell rings at 10:10 a.m.

The weather and temperature are monitored throughout the school day to determine if extreme weather conditions are forecasted. The weather in Colorado changes frequently, so It is important that students are sent to school with appropriate clothing for cold weather conditions.

Lunch: When the temperature or wind chill is below 17 degrees and/or there is heavy precipitation, students will have indoor lunch recess.

After School: Administration will monitor weather alerts and updates for severe weather. In the event of severe weather conditions at dismissal time that would make it difficult for students to wait at their regular pick-up location (i.e. heavy rain, blizzard conditions), we will initiate the inclement weather dismissal plan. Parents will be notified through email initiating the dismissal plan below based on forecasted weather:

Inclement Weather Dismissal:

• Driveline will be used to dismiss students in two locations, Garden Drive (red location) and Academy Court (blue location). Students will stay in classrooms until their vehicle arrives.

• Staff who have outside duty will assist students to their cars as they arrive.

• It is important that parents follow the provided times to prevent traffic congestion. Students will be dismissed when the student driveline number is entered.

• Blue Cone: Students who are assigned to the Blue Cone for pick-up will stay in their classrooms until the receptionist calls for them to be released to the office lobby. Guardians need to park in the west parking lot and sign their children out at the front office.

• Daycare Vans: Dispatch will notify the front office when daycare vans arrive. Overhead announcement will be made to release students to Academy Court.

• Walkers: Students who are designated as walkers will not be released to walk in inclement weather due to safety concerns. Parents/guardians will need to pick up their student using their Driveline number.

Carpooling Program

Join our Schoolpool program to connect with other families to drive, walk, or bike to school together. We are pleased to partner with Schoolpool, a program to help parents get their students to/from school. It is free and there is no obligation to participate. Schoolpool is a service of Way to Go, a federally funded program of the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG).

How does Schoolpool work?

1. Create an account and register your household address or intersection. To maintain the highest level of privacy and security, this link is the only way for Windsor Charter Academy participants to register.: https://mywaytogo.org/s/schoolpool-windsor-fhe18

2. Add comments to indicate special requests or preferences, such as “can provide morning rides in exchange for afternoon rides,” “student is in after-school actives,” or “looking for a walk buddy in the mornings.”

3. Find and contact interested Windsor Charter Academy families in your neighborhood or along your drive to/from school.

4. Windsor Charter Academy has partnered with Way to Go to offer this program to our parents as a free service with the goal of reducing traffic congestion and minimizing the stress of getting children to and from school. Rest assured, your information will only be shared with participating Windsor Charter Academy families. No one else will ever see your information unless you elect to share your information with families at other schools.

The Schoolpool secure mapping service can be used for trip planning, or emergency trips and is a great resource to meet nearby families for other reasons such as play-dates and baby sitters. The more families that register, the more likely you are to find good matches. Contact Way to Go at 303-458-7665 or waytogo@drcog.org for assistance.

Information is provided for your use only. Windsor Charter Academy and Way to Go do not run background checks, confirm valid driver’s licenses, or assess insurance coverage on participants. Potential users are advised to screen participants to their personal satisfaction and check their own insurance coverage for carpooling to ensure that they are covered under these voluntary arrangements. No drivers, vehicles or insurance are provided.