Our transportation department is asking for parents of students who will for sure or may possibly be a bus rider (am or pm) this year to complete this form using this link.

Arrival/Dismissal Procedures

Traffic at West End, as at most elementary schools, can be very stressful. Patience and calmly managing the traffic will lead to a safe and positive experience for everyone. Please follow these procedures for arrival and dismissal.

• As you enter the car loop, be aware there are 2 lanes of traffic. Please fill both lanes equally. Cars in the left lane will need to merge into the right lane to enter the drop-off/pick-up line. The car line is set-up to be an alternate merge. Think of this like Chick-fil-A, one car from each lane forms a single line. If you are in the right lane, plan to let one car in the line in front of you.

• All students should be dropped off/picked up from the right lane of traffic closest to the school and should exit the car from the right-hand (passenger) side (back and front).

• Students may not be dropped off or picked up from any other lane of traffic.

• There is no parking in the student drop-off/pick-up line.

• If you need to come into the building, please park in a marked space. Your children should walk with you to the crosswalk in front of the main entrance.

• Consider the drop off/pick-up area a “No Cell Phone Zone.” Children are unpredictable – your full attention is needed when dropping off/picking up. Our duty teachers cannot get the attention of a driver who is distracted because of cell phone use.

• Watch speed from the time you enter the car loop and coming into drop-off/pick-up area. Please enter and proceed through the line slowly.

• Most importantly - be alert, patient, and cautious. Please be aware, traffic in the middle and upper lanes of traffic flows in both directions.

• Students and adults should always cross at the crosswalk that is manned with a stop sign.

• For pick-up, display (hang) your pick-up card number in your windshield. If your tag is not hanging where a duty teacher can see it, it slows the carline. This card is important! Not only does it help speed the dismissal process, it also lets us be sure that all children are picked-up by a parent or a parent’s representative. If you need another card, please send a note to your child’s teacher. If you do not display a pick-up card, you may be asked to drive around and park so to verify your child’s code word or verify your identity. Please leave your car tag hanging until you have picked-up your child. We have duty teachers along the way to help repeat numbers in case students don’t hear them when they are called the first time.  Please encourage your child to learn his or her number within the first week of school and to listen carefully when numbers are being called.

Exiting the Parking Lot

• There are two exits from the parking lot – You may turn left or right onto Highway 8 and right only onto Highway 135.

Other Notes

• Early Dismissals – Because teachers and students are reviewing the day, preparing for the next day, and packing and moving to dismissal, we are not able to dismiss students between 2:00 and 2:20. After 2:00, students will be dismissed at 2:20.

• The parking lot in the bus ramp area along Highway 8 is for faculty use only. Due to the number of daycares and buses that enter this area during arrival and dismissal, student drop-off/pick-up is not allowed.

• Students may not be dropped off before 7:20 a.m. and should remain in cars until the duty teacher arrives at

  7:20 a.m.

• Students are tardy if they are not in class when the 8:00 a.m. bell rings. Parents should come into the office & sign-in all tardy students. Students being dropped off out front at 7:55 a.m. will likely be tardy to class.

• Students not picked-up at the end of the dismissal window should be signed out in the office

• The school must be informed in writing if a student is riding a different bus. Bus changes for the day must be approved by an administrator prior to a student boarding a bus that he/she does not normally ride. Otherwise students are to ride their regular bus and depart the bus at their assigned stop.

• In case of emergency, parents may call the Easley Area bus office:

  Wallace Heard, Supervisor, PHONE: 864-397-1175 – FAX: 855-8798 WallaceHeard@pickens.k12.sc.us 

  
  Use this link to access SDPC Transportation Services for more information.