Happy 2nd Day of School! A few reminders from our Thornhill Traffic Team!

There is no family parking allowed in the church parking lot and there are (scary voice) consequences if folks are found parking there without a permit. If you are able to carpool, walk or bike from home, or park farther away and walk into school, we strongly encourage you to do this.

In the mornings, the drive and drop-off lanes on Thornhill Drive (GATE A & B) and on the Alhambra Lane (GATE D) side of the school will be open around 8:15 and run until 8:40ish. For the Thornhill Drive drop-off lane, pull into the lane, a friendly parent volunteer will open your door to let your kiddo(s) out, pull carefully out of the lane and drive up to Merriewood to turn around if you need to go westbound out of the neighborhood. Similar procedure for the Alhambra Lane drop-off lane - it’s ok to drive through the St. John’s lot, you just can’t park there. 

Please make sure your kids are ready to jump out of the car so that we can keep things moving. The parent volunteers are happy to help your kids close backpacks, zip up jackets, etc. after you drop off.

• In the afternoons, we will be running a pick-up lane!! The lane will open at 2:15 for TK/K (1:10 on minimum days) and run until 3 pm (or 2 pm for minimum days). Parent volunteers will connect kids waiting at the gates to cars. If your kids aren't ready to be picked up, we'll ask you to move along and come back through after making a u-turn at Merriewood Drive and then circling back around. If you are picking up both TK/K and 1-5 graders, unfortunately, you can't sit along the front curb between pick up times and will need to find another spot to wait.
• There will be no parking allowed in front of the school between 8-4 pm on school days. This has always been prohibited (see signage on the curb), but not enforced. This year (scary voice again) it will be enforced because we will need to keep the lane clear for the afternoon pick-ups.

As always, please bring your patience, good humor, and safety brain during drop off and pick up. A few reminders to that end:

• Please don't speed on Thornhill (or any neighborhood street for that matter): the speed limit is 25 mph throughout and 15 mph in the school zone. There will be kids walking and biking up and down Thornhill and it is extremely unpleasant and unsafe to have drivers going 30+ mph on the corridor.
• Please don't park in front of neighbors' driveways, even if "just for a minute." One of the neighbors across the street is a nurse who works the nightshift. They have been delayed getting home from work in the morning because a Thornhill family parked in their parking spot to drop off in the morning. Please don't be that person!!
• Please no u-turns in front of the school or anywhere else on Thornhill, except at Merriewood Drive.
• Please be patient - we want ALL our kids to get to and from school safely! 

And finally, we are always in need of volunteers to help run the drop-off and pick-up lines. We're a fun group of people (despite all the stern warnings above) and all you need is a passion for opening car doors. Email Ian Storrar at quickdrop@thornhillschool.org to volunteer!

Dismissal Student pick-up happens at the three front gates on Thornhill Drive: Gate A, Gate B, and Gate C. 

The dismissal locations are as follows: 

Gate A

Ms. Finnell’s (K) class, 4th grade, 5th grade 

Gate B 

Ms. Harder’s (K) class, 2nd grade, 3rd grade 

Gate C 

Ms. Steimle’s (TK) Class, Ms. AJ’s (K) class, 1st grade