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This year we made a change to our parking lot design after a careful review by the Montrose City Engineer, District Representatives (Risk Manager, Transportation Manager, Property Services Supervisor), Parents and members of our Staff. The plan successfully separated the busses and cars. It made it possible to dismiss all students at the same time, rather than ending instruction for the day and sending bus riders on their way ten minutes before the rest of the class was dismissed. In short, there were a number of improvements made that we were pleased to see. After lots of training for the drivers who use the parking lot, routines were established and the process flowed pretty smoothly. We successfully dismiss nearly 500 students in a 15 minute window of time. This has been done with safety as our first priority and we’ve avoided any serious injury to our students.
The main problem we’ve encountered with the design was that it was far too complex for those unfamiliar with the intent of the design. Our Annual Parent/Staff Satisfaction Survey made it very clear the design of the parking lot was still problematic. Things flowed very smoothly for those familiar with the plan, but drivers who came into the parking lot for the first time were unsure of where to go and how to handle 40 cars all backed up waiting for the pick-up process to begin. It was impossible to enter the parking area without waiting in the long line of cars.
Attached you will see the preliminary design prepared by an architect hired by our school district. The architect has designed a plan that strives to maintain the best of the previous plan while making it possible to better separate parking and the drop-off / pick-up area. We are also meeting with representatives from the City of Montrose to coordinate plans for the future expansion of Woodgate and to address the concerns our neighbors in Otter Pond have reported. Our hope is that a more coordinated effort with the City of Montrose will result in a more efficient system.
Final stages of the design and the construction work will be completed this summer. Parents and teachers have provided a number of suggestions for improving the plan all year long. Those ideas will be considered as we attempt to provide a parking lot design that will best meet the needs of our growing school. More information will be provided for parents before the beginning of school in August.
We have planned a “MEET THE TEACHER NIGHT” on Monday, August 18th from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. This year all students (Kg to Fifth) will be encouraged to come to Cottonwood that evening and prepare for the first day of school. Be sure to pick up a final diagram of the parking lot so that we can have a smooth start to our school year. Thanks in advance for your patience and cooperation. |