Ashford Primary School
Car Pool System
The Ashford Safety Committee, which is composed of parents, teachers, and the administration, has been working to institute a new and safer process for dropping off and picking up children from car pool. Please carefully read the directions for the car pool, review the attached MAP and sign and return the acknowledgement form to your child s teacher. The new system will be effective Monday morning, November 13, 2006.
General Information
The Car Pool system will be manned by Ashford Staff and Volunteers. They will wear brightly colored safety vests so they are visible and identifiable. All volunteers must pass the screening process for Volunteers in Public Schools.
Car Pool personnel will be assigned to specific points, both in the morning and the afternoon, to assist the students. All car pool traffic, both morning and afternoon, will flow west on Waldemar to Shannon Valley. There will be no u-turns or 3 point turns. Left turns into the circular driveway will not be permitted from 7:00-8:00 AM and from 2:30 -3:15 PM. To access Waldemar, please see the attached map. Morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up will take place on the circular driveway. Cars will be permitted to turn left on to Shannon Valley or go straight down Rincon.There will be no right turns on to Shannon Valley from the circular driveway. There will be no parking on either side of Shannon Valley as well as the first three houses on both sides of Rincon. This is done to insure a smooth flow of traffic. Please remember to park on the right hand side of the street, do not block driveways, and do not block mail boxes.
Special car pool tags will be issued to parents of students with special needs. This will permit us to identify those families and safely bring them their children. Special parking permits for the circular driveway will be issued to the car pool volunteers. Parking will be permitted in the circular driveway from 8:00 AM- 2:20 PM on school days. THERE IS NO PARKING IN THE STAFF PARKING LOT AT ANY TIME and NO PARKING IN THE ADJACENT VISITOR LOT FROM 7:00-8:00 AM AND 2:30-3:15 PM.
Please be aware that there is always a possibility that radar units may be present to monitor the flow of traffic. City of Houston tickets will be issued for speeding and illegal parking. Homeowners have the right to have cars towed which are blocking driveways.
Morning Drop Off
Morning drop-off will only be done in the circular driveway. The students will exit the cars, walk to Building 1 on the Walk of Fame and then proceed to either the cafeteria or gymnasium for breakfast/line up. Drop-offs in front of the school will not be permitted except for the day cares vans, HISD buses, and children with special needs. They will drop-off students in front of the cafeteria. Parent volunteers and Ashford staff members will be on duty to assist the children exiting the cars, and to guide them along the walk way. Walkers will continue to cross the street at Brandywyne and Shannon Valley with the Ashford staff member on duty, or at Shannon Valley and Whittington with the HISD crossing guard. Please do not cross the street in the middle of the block.
Afternoon Pick-Up
Afternoon pick up will continue to be done from the circular driveway. Ashford staff members will place the children in the cars. Day care vans, HISD buses, and the parents of children with special needs will pick up students in front of the cafeteria. There will be an Ashford staff member at the corner of Brandywyne and Shannon Valley for the afternoon walkers. The HISD crossing guard will be posted at Shannon Valley and Whittington to assist students and parents crossing the street. There will be no car pick-up in front of the school in the afternoon. The students identified as walkers will continue to be released from the front of the school by grade level. Pre-kindergarten will be released first followed by kindergarten, first grade, and second grade.
Closing
I ask that you work with the school and parent volunteers to keep all of our children safe coming to and leaving school. For this reason, I am attaching a special acknowledgement for you to sign that you have received a copy of this important information. Please retain the car pool information and only return the acknowledgement form to your child s teacher. Please review the rules with anyone else that should pick-up your child. I have asked the teachers to be certain that we have a signed copy on file for every family in the school. Knowing the rules will help keep everyone safe, everyday!
Thank you for your ongoing support of our school.
Principal
