A few ways to help us on a daily basis, and especially on bad weather days:

• Please pull up all the way forward in the carpool line and also help us by having your child get out of the car when the line stops.  You do not have to be all the way in the front of the line to drop your child off. 
• Have your child prepared to get out of the car immediately when the line stops.  This keeps the carpool line moving at a steady pace.
• Please remind your child to walk slowly when entering the building; the floors are very slippery on wet weather days and students can easily slip and fall.  A gentle reminder - flip-flops are very dangerous when the floors are wet. It is best if students choose to wear shoes on these days for safety.
• Plan to leave early to avoid the long lines.
• If at all possible, do NOT drop-off students in the cul-de-sac or the street across from the carpool lane exit (the one marked "No stopping, standing or parking during school hours").  These students passing through the cross-walk delay the cars from exiting the SMS parking lot (which requires a right-turn-only exit).  The more kids that get dropped off in the cul-de-sac, the longer the delay, the slower the carpool lane.
• Lastly, please do not drop students off in the parking lot.  It is not considerate of fellow parents who have followed the carpool drop off procedures.  This endangers our students as they many times are in a hurry and they have to cross the very busy carpool lane where cars are trying to leave our school.

We do want to reassure you that on these bad weather days, students will not be counted tardy because the carpool lines were long and slow due to the weather.  We will remind our teachers to allow students into class without a tardy.

Carpool

A carpool map is available; please also observe the following carpool guidelines. In an effort to alleviate some of the traffic congestion in and around Schimelpfenig, we are asking that parents please follow these guidelines when picking up their children:

1. Enter the carpool lane only from the far west entrance;
2. Exit the carpool lane only from the east exit;
3. When exiting the carpool lane, please turn right... NO LEFT TURNS. Part of the "backup" in the parking lot is due to vehicles attempting to turn left onto Maumelle Drive in heavy traffic;
4. Please do not make illegal U-turns on Maumelle Drive;
5. When in the carpool lane, please park as close to the right curb as possible and remain in your vehicle. This area is a marked fire lane and the vehicle cannot legally be left unattended;
6. When the carpool lane traffic moves, please pull forward;
7. Observe all crosswalks... and remember that you have to stop if the crosswalk is occupied.

With your help, hopefully we'll be able to get traffic flowing more smoothly and have a safer campus for your children. Carpool map can be downloaded here.