Arrival

Students are not to arrive at school before 8:10 a.m. The staff will begin supervision outside at 8:10 a.m. Therefore, students will need to dress appropriately. Walkers should adjust their travel time accordingly. At 8:25 a.m., students will be allowed to enter the building. Once in the school, students will go directly to class and get prepared for the 8:25 a.m. start time. This door closes promptly at 8:25 a.m. If you drive your child(ren) to school, please use the rear of the school on Mallard Drive for drop-off. Children Grades K-3/4 will line up on the upper blacktop; Grades 4-6 on the lower blacktop.

Parents and caregivers that arrive after 8:25 AM should bring students to the Door #1 main entrance where they can safely enter the building through the office. Please do not drop off students to the back of the building after 8:25 AM because there is not way for them to enter the building.

Students come to school in one of three ways: 1) Car 2) Walk/Bike 3) Bus. All students can begin arriving at school no earlier than 8:10 AM. This will allow students plenty of time to adjust prior to school beginning at 8:25 AM. Please allow extra time in these beginning weeks and for inclement weather to ensure students arrive on time. As students are dropped off, we ask that parents help us by exiting the drop off areas so we can make sure that we can see and support students getting to correct doors. This includes parents not gathering in our blacktop areas making it difficult for others to access areas.

As students arrive, they will enter the building through their grade level doors:

• Kindergarten: Mrs. Schwarz Door #9, Mrs. Rauch Door #10
• Grades 1 - 3 and Miss Gerhardt's class: Door #11.
• Grades 4-5 and Mrs. Nilsen's and Miss Laurencell's classes Door #8
• Grade 6: Door #3
• ATG Students and Transitional KDG bus riders: Door #2 and will walk through the building to class or class lines.

Car—We ask the students arriving by car use the Mallard Drive car loop only. Cars pull into the lot from the South, proceed through the line, and exit the lot on the North. Drivers will be directed by staff when to allow your children to exit the car. Students MUST exit from the passenger side. Please do not get out of your car to release kids from car seats or to open the back seat door on the driver’s side. If children cannot independently exit from the passenger side, parents should park on the street and walk them to the blacktop area. From the car line, students will proceed directly to their grade level entry door. Drivers will exit Mallard Drive being careful of pedestrians. Please do not drop students off on the Harvard side of the building. The safest location for students in the Mallard driving loop.

Bus—Students using District 15 busing from the Hunting Ridge service area will be dropped off in the school parking lot off Harvard Drive. Students will be permitted to exit the bus at 8:10 AM or when a supervisor is present. They will proceed directly to their classrooms. Students requiring District 15 busing for the Transitional Kindergarten or Gifted Programs will arrive to Door #2. They will proceed directly to their classrooms.

Walk—Students walking to school should all cross at the Illinois Avenue/Mallard Drive intersection via the Palatine Crossing Guard. Students should proceed on Mallard Drive to the sidewalk leading to the back blacktop. They will then proceed directly to their grade level entry door. Parents choosing to drive and park, must park on Mallard along the school side of the curb, between No Parking signs. Please do not block neighboring driveways.

Bikes - Students and parents choosing to ride a bike to school must utilize the crossing guard at Mallard and Illinois to safely cross. Once on school property, we ask that bikes are walked to the back of the building upper blacktop area where bikes and helmets can be secured to bike racks. Students can then proceed to their grade level entry door.

Harvard Drive Parking Lot—During arrival and dismissal, this lot is only open to parents that need to enter the office, to walk students to our CARE program before school, or to walk Transitional Kindergarten students to Door #2. Outside of arrival and dismissal, this is the easiest lot for families to access our school office. Please do not use this lot to drop off students.

Afternoon kindergarten students will arrive by bus or parent walk-up to the front of the building at Door #1. If arriving by car, please do not park on the street, kindly use the lot on Illinois Avenue.

Dismissal

Students dismiss from school at 3:05 PM Monday - Thursday and 2:15 PM on Fridays.

Students leave school in one of three ways: 1) Car 2) Walk/Bike 3) Bus. The key to a successful dismissal is consistency. Please make sure your child is aware of their routine before beginning their day. Limiting changes to this routing is helpful. Taking the time to have a conversation about the end of day routine each morning helps children immensely. Please communicate any emergency changes during the day to the school office. While teachers check phone and email messages frequently, we cannot guarantee it will be received prior to dismissal. Kindly notify both the teacher and school office of any change to a child's dismissal plan.

Bus Riders—Bus riders will exit the back of the building to meet their buses if they live within the Hunting Ridge service area. Students that are a part of District 15 programs at Hunting Ridge will meet their bus at Door #2. Walking paths are supervised by staff members wearing safety vests. All bus riders are in assigned seats. Students will wear masks when riding the bus.

Walkers and/or Car Riders—Kindergarten Half-Day – Second Grade: These students will be dismissed from the upper blacktop until parents or caregivers meet them. This will require parents to park cars along Mallard Street in order to meet their K-2 student. The Mallard lot is closed at dismissal time to ensure a safe dismissal for all of our young students. Students not picked up will be brought to the office.

Walkers and/or Car Riders—For students in grades 3-6, walkers will exit the Mallard Drive door—Door #14 to meet parents and caregivers or to walk home. Parents and care givers can wait on the sidewalk outside of Door 14. Please note, the parking lot on Mallard Drive is closed during dismissal. We ask for your cooperation parking along the school side curb, mindful of no parking signs, in order to meet students. Please do not block driveways. Parents and caregivers can wait along the sidewalk on Mallard Drive. Please stand on the sidewalks instead of the parking lot area for safety. Once all walkers have exited the building, students requiring car transportation will be dismissed. Staff will remain on duty until all students have been matched up with their appropriate guardian. Should a parent not show within ten minutes of dismissal, students will be brought to the office.

It is very important that dismissal plans remain as consistent as they can for our students. Parents that make any changes to dismissal must notify the office before 2:30 PM in order for us to deliver the message on time. Please help us make sure that your child, the school office, and the teacher are aware of any changes to dismissal whenever possible.

All families that are eager to take photos of students on their first day of school are highly encouraged to do so at home, before they leave for school. Kindly refrain from photos and recordings as they may have other student's captured within those frames.

Students with cell phones or Apple watches should not be accessing them once they are on school property. Cell phones should be turned off and kept in backpacks. We are happy to help parents that need to contact students with messages during the school day. Phone calls and messages through these devices can be distracting and disruptive to classroom learning.