Because of the exponential growth of our school over the last several years, teachers are encouraged to park off campus to provide more room for our families. This year since all of our preschool and toddler-age students will need to be walked into their classrooms for both drop off and pick up we are going to ask all parents of older students to either have your child take the bus, walk from downtown Basalt or only drop off and pick up in our drop off and pick up zone. Parking and walking your older children into school is no longer an available option due to parking constraints on our campus. We need to prioritize parking safety for our youngest students and hope you can join in and help to keep those parking spaces open for these families.

To ensure our drop off and pick up times are safe, follow these explicit drop off and pick up procedures: Follow our Traffic Pattern Map provided in the Student Information Packet. Make every effort to arrive at school 10 minutes before the 8am bell rings. Plan ahead for clothing choices, lunch preparation, and getting homework ready. Your child will be supervised and have inside access in the link or cafeteria prior to the start of school. Be patient, wait your turn, and always pull to the FRONT of the drop-off lane. NEVER leave your vehicle unattended. Stay in the car in our drop zone. Carpool with other families, park off campus and walk your child to school, or have your child ride the bus due to the limited capacity of our parking lot. Let your children out on the passenger side of the car. Be courteous to the staff directing traffic and follow their directions. They are looking out for your child’s safety and welfare and have a long day of teaching ahead. Be alert for pedestrians, but watch for indications from the crossing guard. Staff will try to get the drop-off lane filled before allowing pedestrians to cross to keep traffic on Cottonwood Dr. flowing. Yield the right of way to the inside lane of traffic to keep it moving along as quickly as possible. Leave handicapped spots for those with handicaps. DO NOT drop off students behind the school where there is no supervision. The small back parking lot is used by district vehicles who are not expecting children outside of the fenced playground area. DO NOT drive around other cars into oncoming traffic on Cottonwood Dr.

Pedestrians ALWAYS use the crosswalk when you need to cross the lanes of traffic. Don't assume that cars are going to stop for you. WAIT for the crossing guard to ask you to cross. Say goodbyes and make after school plans on the way to school and gear up with backpacks, coats and hats at home so the drop off is efficient. The drop zone has a posted time limit of 2 minutes; it would be ideal if you could limit your drop off time to less than 30 seconds.