Arrival & Dismissal

Arrival & Dismissal Plan

Principal: Dr. Cynthia E. Farmer
Instructional Director: Dr. LaTonya Williams

Transportation Coordinator: Brian Cuvo, Assistant Principal (301-805-1000, ext. 61174)

Traffic Map

Student Arrival

To ensure the safety of students and foster independence, parents are encouraged to drop their children off within the circle. Parents must remain in their vehicles during drop off. Do not get out of your car for any reason. If you need assistance in getting your child out of your vehicle, please raise your hand and a staff member will be there to assist you. Please do not drive into the circle in front of the school while buses are present. When you bring your child to school, there will be adults directing traffic. Please follow their directions.

No students may arrive at school until 9:15am, unless they are a Safety Patrol, a member of the Morning Show crew, a designated before school club, or are enrolled in Champions Before and After Care. This includes those students who ride bikes, are walkers, and who are dropped off. There is no adult supervision outside before 9:15am. Parents in the car line must wait until 9:15am and will be directed by a staff member to drive to enter the traffic circle. During arrival, the parking lot will be closed to parents. A video demonstrating arrival procedures will be sent out prior to the beginning of the school year. For student safety, our school doors are locked at all times. When students are dropped off at 9:15am, they will be directed inside the school building and report directly to their classrooms. If students are buying breakfast, they will report to the Multipurpose Room. Breakfast will be from 9:15am-9:28am. It is highly encouraged that students arrive at 9:15am so they have time to get to their classrooms, unpack, and prepare for the school day. Instruction begins promptly at 9:30am. Students are considered tardy after 9:30am, parents must come into the school building and sign their child in. The child will be given a late pass. Be sure your child arrives at school on time.

Student Dismissal

Afternoon announcements will begin at 3:27pm. Once afternoon announcements have concluded, safety patrols will be dismissed. At 3:30pm, Whitehall Elementary School will begin the dismissal process. Students in Grades K-4 will exit through the front doors. Students in Grade 5 will exit outside of the fence door near Learning Cottages # 10. The following order will be used for dismissal:

1. Walkers (Grades 2-5)- Students in grades 2-4 will be dismissed as walkers, and will make their way to the front of the building and exit the building to walk home or meet their parent for pickup. Grade 5 will be dismissed from the learning cottages, and will walk the path from the learning cottages to the front of the building as they proceed to walk home or to meet their parent for pickup.
2. Parent Pickup (K and 1) - Teachers will take students out to the K and 1 blacktop for parent pickup.
3. Parent Pickup (Grade 2)- The assigned staff member will then escort students outside to their designated parent pickup location.
4. Van Riders- An assigned staff member will monitor the students as they exit the building and go to their vans.
5. Bus Riders- Buses will be called in the order in which they arrived.
6. Champions Before and Aftercare will be dismissed after bus riders.

Important Note: Students in 5th Grade will exit by the gate located near Learning Cottage #10.

The traffic circle will be CLOSED to cars for dismissal this school year. The traffic circle will only be utilized by PGCPS buses and van riders by aftercare providers. Parents who are picking up their child will need to park on the street and walk up to the school to get their child. Please do not block our Whitehall neighbors’ driveways. The designated pick-up point for Grades K and 1 will be the K and 1 Blacktop. The parent pick-up location for Grades 2 will be at a designated area in the front of the school building.

Kindergarten and 1st grade students may not walk home by themselves. Kindergarten and 1st grade students who are being picked up will be escorted to the K-1 Blacktop by assigned staff members. K-1 students will line up by their classes. A child’s parent will check in with the assigned staff member and state who they are picking up.

If there is a late bus or private van, students will wait in a designated location inside the school building. A staff member will be assigned to wait with students. If it is 4:00pm and the late bus has not yet arrived, an administrator will wait with students. The location of students waiting for late buses or vans may change as the year progresses, depending on how many students are waiting on a regular basis.

If a student has not been picked up by the end of dismissal, they will be escorted into the main office where they will call their parents or legal guardians. Students will wait in the main lobby until their ride has arrived. Parents must come into the building, present identification, and sign out your child. Repeated instances of late pick up can result in consequences aligned with the PGCPS Code of Conduct for Families, Volunteers, and Visitors. This can include a call to the Department of Social Services and/or the Bowie Police Department. Whitehall understands that occasionally, there will be circumstances that are beyond your control that will cause you to be late. In these situations, we kindly ask that you contact the school with an estimated time of arrival.

If a student will take a dismissal route that is not part of their regular dismissal, a written note must be brought to the school or an email sent to the teacher and office staff. This will be given to their child’s teacher, who will notify the main office. If this includes going on a PGCPS school bus, a copy of the written note will be made and given to the bus driver. An email request is acceptable. Whitehall Elementary School will not be able to honor a change in dismissal request that is made over the telephone.

NOTE: Please refrain from using cell phones while driving on school property.

Early Dismissal

In order for a student to be dismissed early, the following steps must be adhered to:

1. All early dismissals must take place before 3:00pm. No early dismissals will take place after 3:00pm.
2. The person picking up the student must present a valid photo ID. If this person does not present a valid photo ID, the student will not be released.
3. One of the main office secretaries will look at the photo ID as well as the Emergency Contact Form. If a person picking up a student is not on the Emergency Contact Form, a student will not be released to them. If a parent wishes to authorize someone to pick up their child, they must come up to the school and update their Emergency Contact Form.
4. Once identification has been verified, the person picking up the student will sign them out on the Early Departure Log. One of the front office secretaries will initial that they have verified the person’s identification.

Afterschool Clubs/Activities/Sports

If there is an afterschool club or activity, an announcement will be made as part of the afternoon announcements. Included in this announcement will be the location of where the activity will take place. Once walkers and car riders have been dismissed, students participating in an authorized after school activity should report to the activity location. Activity sponsors will provide a list of participants to administration to verify who is authorized to stay for after school activities.