Marshaling the Troops: Carpool lines at schools get technical

By GRETCHEN MURRAY
gmurray@record-eagle.com

November 25, 2008 10:08 am

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A new persona is joining the ranks of those do-it-all-and-make-it-look-easy soccer moms and hockey moms -- car line moms.

With more charter schools and preschools popping up in the Traverse City area -- and busing not always an option -- many parents end up spending a portion of their day vying for their rightful spot in the carpool lines that systematically weave their way toward the doors of area schools at dropoff and dismissal time.

These moms, dads, grandparents and caregivers know their way around the block when it comes to coordinating daily schedules with schools' dropoff and pickup times. It takes about a week to learn each school's particular car line rules, protocol and etiquette, but parents are discovering that the systems are slick and operate with streamlined efficiency.

"We're pleased with our system," said Kaye Mentley, superintendent of Grand Traverse Academy where car pooling is the only transportation option. The school's car pool line has been in place since the school opened in 2000. While arrival times are more staggered, Mentley says two identical car pool lines run simultaneously at dismissal time, one at the north entrance and one at the south entrance. It may seems a little complicated at first, but Mentley says that by the first week of school each year, it runs like clockwork.

"Our parents have a decal that signifies that they are a GTA parent and also a rearview mirror tag with the names of who's riding in the car as well as their teacher's name," she said. "Students go out to the sidewalks and group according to the letters of their last name."

Teachers are out there along with staff members Mentley refers to as "Car Pool Kings and Queens" who are armed with two-way radios and marshal the lines.

Mentley explained that the first 12 cars line up against the sidewalk and another 12 pull up along the far side of those. As names are called according to the signs in the car windows, students take a corresponding spot on the sidewalk. At the same time a second child whose car is in the far line is called to an "on deck" area.

After the Carpool King or Queen releases the near line of cars, the "on-deck" students are loaded into their waiting rows.

The process repeats at both the north and south locations until dismissal is completed. Mentley says the pattern flows well and works great.

"We safely and lovingly dismiss 1,100 students in 15 minutes or less," she said.

"One of the benefits we have is we were able to design our whole traffic flow, driveway and parking lot around this (pickup and dismissal process)," Mentley said. "I can sympathize with a school that has to try to make use of an existing geography."

That's a problem many schools in downtown Traverse City have to address when designing their car pool lines.

"The two most critical needs for smooth carpool lines are cooperation and communication between parents and staff and we have that," said Lori Phillips, principal of Holy Angels Preschool and Elementary School on 10th Street. The school had to plan its car line around busy street traffic and a busing schedule.

Phillips said three staffers oversee a single-lane car line that dismisses about 150 students on the Cass Street side of the building, while some 80 second-grade carpoolers are dismissed by staff members standing by on 10th Street.

"The system works with minimal technology because the staff gets to know the parents very well," Phillips said. Briefings and protocol are set down during parent night each fall and further instructions, notices and a diagram of dismissal procedures are posted on the school's Web site. In the event a parent is unavoidably late for dismissal, the child waits in the Munson After School program at the school. "Our parents are incredible and do a great job. It's very efficient and we're always trying to improve," Phillips said.

So is Angela Camp, principal of the Montessori School at Glenn Loomis, who says their system runs smoothly despite the lack of busing. Camp says parents provide transportation for approximately half of the school's population. The remainder walk to school.

The Montessori school utilizes two car lines that wrap around the block. One line on 13th Street is for 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds, all remaining classes dismiss on the south side of the building. Colored cards with the students' last names must be visible in the car windows. A staff member with a two-way radio reads the name to another staffer dismissing the children.

"It's going pretty well and has reduced the time parents spend in car lines," Camp said. She says the school can dismiss approximately 335 students on average within 10 minutes every afternoon.

Camp says that any car-pooling needs are worked out between parents, but the school provides a bulletin board for postings and dialogues.

Camp also is beginning to research a Safe Routes to School program that would involve groups of volunteer adults who would meet and walk with children at set locations along their route to school. "The Safe Routes program will promote fitness and that helps with learning. It also means fewer vehicles in the car lines," she said.

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