Navigating Carpool

MORNING CARPOOL

Morning carpool is from 7:40 – 8:10 a.m. except on “late day” (Wednesday) when morning carpool is from 8:35 – 9:10 a.m. Morning Carpool Procedures, Generally •Parents dropping off in ES/MS carpool should turn in from Ashford-Dunwoody and pull straight forward to join one of the two lines that wrap around the parking lot. The lines will merge just before the turnaround in front of Warrior Hall. When it’s your turn, pull forward into the turnaround. Resist the urge to shove your kids out of the door and peel out of the parking lot. Wait for the carpool assistant to open the car door. •Parents dropping off in EC carpool should turn right after entering the parking lot so they can join the separate –and much shorter – line for EC. (It runs in front of the

EC building.) If you are too early or EC carpool gets backed up, you will have to loop around. That means you’ll have to get in a “big carpool” line. Don’t panic!

Just make sure you get in the left line. That way you can turn into EC carpool before the second loop in the big carpool line. Again, don’t panic. There will be people there to help direct you. EC Parents Great news! Not only do you get to take advantage of the much shorter morning carpool line, if one of your kids is an EC student, you get to drop ALL of your kids off in EC carpool! In fact, according to the SMES Handbook, you have to (a fact that comes in handy when your fifth grader complains about the “long walk” to his or her classroom). This perk will literally add hours to your week. MS Parents Parents of middle schoolers, we have some good news for you, too! You can use the Lanier Drive entrance to drop off your middle schooler before carpool starts. Yep, that’s right – thanks to “early drop-off,” you can skip the morning carpool line altogether. Early drop-off is between 7:30 and 7:40 every morning except Wednesday, when early drop-off is between 8:30 & 8:35 a.m. There is a catch, though. The window for early drop-off is pretty tight. If carpool has started, you’ve missed the window. That means you’ll have to drive around and get in the back of the regular carpool line. Also, early drop-off is for middle schoolers ONLY. You can’t drop off your ES or EC student early, too. ES Parents Well – at least you have early drop-off to look forward to…

AFTERNOON CARPOOL

When is afternoon carpool? It depends on the division. 1:30 p.m. Toddlers, Beginners, & Pre-K 3:15 p.m. ES (1st – 5th grade) 2:50 p.m. Kindergarten 3:30 p.m. MS (6th – 8th grade) What if I have kids in different divisions? •If you are parked on campus at 3:00 when people start lining up for afternoon carpool, there is a good chance you won’t be able to leave until carpool is over (around 3:45 p.m.). To avoid getting stuck, choose your parking spot wisely. The parking spots facing the playground are a good option. If you do get stuck, don’t panic! Go to the car or two behind the one blocking you in and ask the driver (s) to let you back out. •Your youngest child at SMES is in toddlers, beginners, and/or pre-K: Prepare yourself for “two-a-days” (two afternoon carpools a day). You’ll do the first pickup at

1:30 (toddlers, beginners, & pre-K), and your second afternoon carpool will be whenever your other child/ children get out of school. • Your youngest is in kindergarten and your oldest is in

ES: You’re in luck! You can pick up all of your kids in

ES carpool at 3:15 p.m. Just go to the Explorers page on the school website and register your child for the

FREE Explorers “kindergarten escort” program. Every afternoon, a member of the Explorers staff will escort your child and other similarly-situated kindergarteners to

ES carpool. It’s that easy! Registration will be open soon. • Your youngest is in kindergarten and your oldest is in

MS: If you’d like, you, too, can take advantage of the kindergarten escort program (see above) and pick up your kids at 3:30 in MS carpool. • Your youngest is in ES: You can pick all of your kids up in MS carpool at 3:30 p.m. No need to sign up for any special program. Just let your ES student’s teacher know.

A word of caution: If you get to the front of carpool before MS students are dismissed from their classrooms at 3:25, you can still pick up your younger children. But you may have to drive around and get back in the carpool line to pick up your middle schooler. • Your youngest is in kindergarten, you have a child in ES, and you have a child in MS: To avoid multiple afternoon pick ups, sign your kindergartener up for “kindergarten escort” and tell your ES student’s teacher you’re picking up in MS carpool so you can get all of your kids at 3:30 in

MS carpool.

AFTERNOON CARPOOL IS DIFFERENT THAN MORNING CARPOOL.

No, it’s not just because it’s in the afternoon. • You need your carpool number for afternoon carpool.

Keep that neon-colored piece of paper in your car at all times! When you get to carpool, put it where the person calling carpool numbers can see it. If you don’t have your carpool number, you can look it up on the SchoolPass app (see the SchoolPass section in this guide). The nice teacher on carpool duty can look it up for you, too. • Afternoon carpool takes longer than morning carpool.

It’s true, and there’s not much we can do about it. (Isn’t

it a scientific fact that kids take at least twice as long to get into a car than get out of one?) It does speed up after a painfully slow first couple of weeks, though. We promise. • Sometimes there’s not enough room in the parking lot for all the cars. If you arrive for afternoon carpool to find the parking lot full and a string of angry drivers stuck on Ashford-Dunwoody, be patient. SMES carpool assistants will be there to help. Follow their directions, and everything will be alright.

MORE CARPOOL ADVICE

• Watch the carpool video on the school’s website. (Log in, scroll down the parent resources page, and click the

“Carpool, Walker, & Dunwoody Bus Information” link to access the video.) • You will get your carpool number at Orientation. When you get home, laminate it if you can (it may not make it to November if you don’t). Then put it in your car and keep it there. If you need an extra set of carpool numbers, just ask Meredith or Erin at the receptionist desk in Warrior Hall. • EC carpool starts right on time (and sometimes a little earlier), and the line moves quickly. Try to get in line a few minutes before carpool starts. • Some ES parents start lining up for carpool before kindergarten carpool even starts. Try not to be that parent. ES carpool won’t start early no matter how many cars are lined up in the parking lot. And if you block kindergarten carpool, you will be asked to move. • If your child is not standing by a cone when you get to the turnaround in ES/MS carpool, do not stop in the turnaround. Pull forward and park in “assisted carpool” (the parking spots facing the MS building at the end of the turnaround). A teacher or administrator will be right over to help you.