I hope that you had a restful break and were able to spend some quality time with family and friends. Thank you for abiding by our traffic regulations and helping us in being better neighbors. Last Monday, we met with a member of the City Council and two neighborhood representatives to continue our traffic initiative, and we will continue keeping the lines of communication open.
I want to reiterate a few important points about driving on campus and in the surrounding community, and remind you of our commitment as a school to safe driving practices on and around campus. Please take a minute to review these five points.
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As you approach the loading zones, please pull your vehicle as close as possible to the curb. By doing this, you will allow traffic on Rincon (back loading zone) or Bucknall (front loading zone) that is not entering the school to pass by freely without causing a substantial traffic backup. Cars that don’t pull to the right impede traffic flow and cause frustration for all the motorists needing to bypass school traffic.
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The bus circle is for buses and school vehicles only; this area should not be used as an alternative to the front and rear loading zones. If you are entering the bus circle in an attempt to get to the nearby parking lot, please enter from the appropriate location as that area is one way and it has the words “do not enter” painted on the ground. There have been a couple of near head-on collisions recently as drivers are entering that area from the wrong direction. Within the next week you will see two signs at that exit that hopefully make this distinction more clear to motorists.
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There are many families who choose to park and walk their children onto campus each day. Please help keep the children safe by heading to a crosswalk, not crossing the street in the middle of traffic. We’ve contracted crossing guards at the corners of Rincon at Weston and a second guard at the intersection of Weston and Bucknall to help you cross the street safely. They are a great resource and we hope that you will take the extra few minutes it takes to walk to their areas and keep your children safe. We recently received a call from one of our neighbors thanking us for this service as she and her children were nearly hit by a distracted driver, so please pay attention to pedestrians and the crossing guards as you enter these areas.
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Please remember that our school is in a residential area and obey the appropriate speed limits for the safety of the individuals who are out walking and jogging with their families. I have had a recent increase in visits from neighbors who are mentioning how unsafe they feel due to the speeding on streets such as Grimsby Drive, Vanderbilt Drive and Norwich Way.
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We will continue to use a shuttle system from St. Thomas Canterbury Catholic Church to the Bucknall campus for large events, when possible. Your help in using the shuttle is especially important in this rainy weather, as field parking will not be an option until it has dried out completely and our facilities staff feels confident that your automobiles won’t get stuck on the saturated field. Please make sure you are checking your email for regular updates regarding parking instructions for events.
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Thank you again for all of your help with the traffic on our campus and the community. Our ultimate goal is to make sure that all of the children are safe, and with your attentive driving and remembering a few key points, you help us in achieving that goal. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Ken Allen
Lower School Dean of Students
408.553.0549
ken.allen@harker.org
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