Carline Rules and Procedures
- Everyone is expected to drive safely and show good manners to their fellow drivers at all times. We know that carline can be a stressful time of day; a smile and wave can go a long way toward helping everyone remain patient and kind.
- Drivers must not use their cell phones while in carline. It is exceedingly dangerous.
- Cars must always follow the painted carline routes. Do not cut across the parking lot to get through the line faster.
- Help us be good neighbors by not cutting through the parking lots of private businesses near our schools. This interferes with their operations and reflects poorly on Great Hearts Irving.
- Please remain in your vehicle at all times. Getting out to help your child into the car or for any other reason is dangerous and holds up the line. Over time, your children will learn to get in the car on their own quickly. If possible, please position your child’s car seat on the side of the vehicle they will need to enter so that they don’t have to go around.
- Our teachers and staff are present to ensure everything is running as safely and efficiently as possible. Thank you in advance for listening to and following their directions with a smile.
- Please help your child to know the type and color of vehicle that will be picking them up and describe it to our teachers. They help us get them in the right cars by raising their hands high when they see their car in the pick up zone.
- Please pull all the way forward in line. Closing the gap as much as possible between you and the car in front of you helps get as many cars as possible off the street and into our parking lot.
Drop Off and Pick Up Times
- Drop Off: 7:15-7:40am
- Full Day Pick Up: 3:30-3:55pm
- Early-Release Friday Pick Up: 1:30-1:55pm
After 7:40am, students will need to be signed in at the front desk. Please park in an available spot on the east end of the parking lot and walk your student to the front office to be checked in. Students are tardy at 7:45am. Students not picked up by 3:55pm on full days and 1:55pm on early-release Fridays will be sent to the front desk where they will need to be signed out.
If your child has an afternoon doctor’s appointment and needs to leave school early, please sign them out at the front desk before 2:45pm on full days and before 12:45pm on early-release Fridays. After these times students may only be picked up in the carline for the safety of all.
Additional Carline Rules and Procedures
- Please plan to be in line prior to 3:55pm on full days and 1:55pm on early-release Fridays. Attempting to hurriedly join the line at the last possible moment is dangerous and causes pick up to extend past our target end time.
- During pick up, please continue to display your placards even after your child’s number has been entered. This helps us to match students to the right cars as quickly as possible.
- Please do not wave to your children as you are approaching the pick up zone. Waving can be a signal to children to run to your car instead of waiting to be escorted safely by a teacher.
- In the event a line becomes backed up, teachers may direct cars to a different line. It is vital to the safety and efficiency of carline that drivers follow all teacher directives.
CurbSmart
For afternoon pick up we use a digital dismissal system called CurbSmart. CurbSmart allows us to enter students’ names which then pop up on a screen in their classroom letting them know it is time to head outside. You may see teachers who appear to be on their cell phones during pick up. Please know that these teachers are using their phones to access CurbSmart and help pick-up run smoothly.
CurbSmart also allows us to dismiss students to the correct line (Blue, White, or Green) whichever one you go to. When the student’s name pops up on the screen, it also says which door they should head to based on which teacher entered their name outside. While we recommend that vehicles with students in Kindergarten through 3rd Grade use the Green Line, vehicles with students in 4th and 5th Grade use the Blue Line, and vehicles who need to head to the Upper School use the White Line, CurbSmart allows us to make all three lines available to any family both morning and afternoon should any particular line by too lengthy. We will make sure your children get to the right door to meet your car.
Lower School Carline Maps
Please make sure that you have studied our carline maps carefully. Carline is safer and more efficient when everyone knows and complies with the expectations. Please take special note of the following:
- The Green Line begins northbound on Belt Line to turn right onto Story Road. Please do not join the Green Line by turning left onto Story, or by turning left into the parking lot off Skyway Circle. Doing either of these things is cutting in front of others who have been waiting patiently.
- The Blue and White Lines begin to the east at the four-way stop and head south on Skyway Circle.
- Cars in the White Line must turn right as they exit and travel around Skyway Circle to the four-way stop to make a safe left turn to head to the Upper School.
- Cars exiting the Green and Blue Lines should turn left onto Skyway and then right onto Story Road. Attempting to turn left onto Story in heavy traffic is dangerous and causes our carlines to back up. We often have a traffic officer to help ensure everyone turns right, but we ask that you please do so even when the officer is not present.
Student Placards
It is important that you display your child(ren)’s placards during pick up each day. Vehicles not displaying placards will be asked to pull around and sign students out at the front desk. Please do not modify placards or make copies. If someone else will be picking up your students, please deliver the original placards we gave you to them to use for pick up. If you need additional placards, just visit the front desk anytime and we can provide those for you. You can also email Mary.Rogers@greatheartstxschools.org to have them sent home with your child.
Consider Carpooling
Every time families carpool it reduces the number of cars that have to go through carline. If you need help finding a family that lives nearby you might be able to carpool with, please reach out to ghilspso@greatheartstxschools.org.
Lower School Drop Off and Pick Up in Severe Weather
Delayed Drop Off or Pick Up
To keep our students and teachers safe during a storm, it may be necessary to delay drop off or pick up, in which case we would notify you at the earliest opportunity via text message and email of the delay and the expected time drop off or pick up will begin.
If a storm arrives or lightning is detected in the area while drop off or pick up is already in progress, we will suspend faculty-assisted carline and ask all teachers to return inside. Parents will be notified via text message and email of the need to suspend carline as well.
Alternative Drop Off
If the weather prevents us from running faculty-assisted drop off as usual, we will notify parents and hang large, red flags outside each entrance to indicate we are shifting to the alternative drop off plan. We will keep all exterior doors open and monitored to allow parents to park anywhere in the parking lot and walk with students to the closest door when they determine it is safe to do so. Students will not be counted tardy.
Alternative Dismissal Plan
If the weather makes it unsafe for us to run faculty-assisted pick up, parents will also be notified and red flags hung outside each door. Parents will be permitted to park and walk into the building with their child(ren)’s placards when they deem it safe. Upon entering a monitored door, a teacher will escort each parent in turn to their child(ren)’s classroom(s) to pick them up.
We recognize that these alternative drop off and pick up procedures will take longer. They are in place as a way to keep everyone as safe as possible. Thank you in advance to all our parents and teachers for their additional patience, generosity, and goodwill should it be necessary to implement one of these options.
For questions or concerns about Lower School Carline, please reach out to Assistant Headmaster Robert Tiffin at Robert.Tiffin@greatheartstxschools.org or our Director of Campus Operations at Grant.Beardslee@greatheartstxschools.org.