Dear Upper School Families, We’re about two months into the school year, with about three months left before we revamp traffic patterns in recognition of the completion of our construction project. For the most part, it’s been a good two months, but we do wish to reinforce some key points about drop-off at the upper school that apply not only now but also in the future. Try to arrive early. During the opening weeks of the year, we had a great many families arriving between 7:40-7:50 a.m. This greatly reduced overall congestion. That pattern has eroded, and too many families are now arriving between 7:50-8 a.m., creating traffic loads that are challenging to manage and leading to these following issues. La Terraza and the Marriott People are still dropping off at La Terraza and the Marriott. Marriott employees came to our lobby this week asking our help to eliminate this practice. Please help us be good neighbors and do not do that. Pedestrian Safety Drop-offs just inside the entry to the school are increasing. The map indicates the areas in which it is safest to drop off your children. We do not have the staff to stop you from earlier drop-offs, and despite our efforts to inform and encourage both students and drivers to make eye contact, many students are still literally running or walking in front of cars that aren’t their parents’, without paying attention. For this reason alone, we ask that you wait until further down the driveway when safer access to pedestrian entries are more available. This not only applies now, but will in the future. When we open the new drop-off lane in a few months we will insist upon curbside drop-off. More information on that when we issue diagrams and maps in the coming weeks. Saratoga Avenue Please, please, please do not drop off on Saratoga Avenue. Just yesterday two parents attempted to drop off their children before even entering the school campus along what amounts to the exit lane from the freeway. This is a DMV violation and completely unsafe. Please – it is much better for your child to be late for class than to be injured – period. Again, arriving earlier eliminates this worry. We apologize for what must seem to many to be these tiresome and repetitive reminders. But since the issues do not seem to ever go away, we do feel the need to push the “refresh” button on a regular basis. Thank you to everyone who so carefully and patiently negotiates their way to the upper school and supports our efforts to get your children from car to class as safely and expediently as possible. We hope our next message will be the one that describes the evolution of the new parking lot – which means the performing arts center will be very close to completion, opening another wonderful venue for Harker students and families to enjoy. Regards, Greg Lawson Assistant Head of School for Student Affairs greg.lawson@harker.org 408.345.9600 Social Media facebook.com/harkerschool instagram.com/harkerschool youtube.com/harkerschool Contact Us 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose 95129 communications@harker.org Need more spirit wear? Shop the Eagle Store at https://eaglestore.harker.org/ Copyright © The Harker School 2024. All Rights Reserved.