Dismissal

At 3:35 PM, dismissal begins for those students riding District buses home. No student is permitted back to his/her classroom once dismissal procedures begin. Please remind your child(ren) to be responsible by having all necessary items ready when bus dismissal begins. The students are directed by staff to their assigned buses as bus numbers are announced over our school intercom system. It is important that your child be familiar with his/her bus number and bus stop. Each student riding a bus receives a bag tag with bussing information recorded on it. Please make sure the tag remains on the students’ bags throughout the year and notify the school office if changes need to be made to the tags.

Students must ride the bus to which they have been assigned by the Penn Hills School District. They must also get on and off at their assigned bus stop. Permanent changes to bussing or bus stops must be done through the Penn Hills School District Transportation Office.

For temporary changes to bus transportation, Parent/Guardians must submit a written request to the school office at the start of the school day that the change needs to occur. Students will then be issued a Temporary Bus Pass for the day.

If your child will be a regular car rider, (picked up every day or on a regular schedule), please complete a Car Rider Registration Form and return it to the school office. You will be issued a numbered car tag and included on our permanent car rider list. If your child occasionally rides home by car, please be sure that a note is sent to the teacher each day this is to occur indicating the day of the pick-up and the name of the person responsible for picking up the child. Your note will be relayed to the dismissal staff.

Student pick-up occurs in the front of the building. Please note that student pick-up is from 3:30 PM to 4:00 PM. It is not necessary to arrive at our school earlier than these times, as it causes an unnecessary back up of car traffic. We encourage you to utilize the entire window of time until 4:00 PM for pick-up, as we believe this strategy will help to reduce your wait time in line. With approximately 200 cars arriving for students, safety is our top priority at dismissal time. Please have your numbered car tags visible. Persons without valid Car Rider tags will be directed into the security office to confirm authorization for pick-up. It is also important that cars remain in the pick-up line, until directed otherwise by our security staff. Please do not try to bypass traffic by traveling in the opposite lane to get up the hill to our school.

Please pay attention and follow the directions of the staff members directing traffic during dismissal time. Traffic patterns are shifted during car rider dismissal to accommodate the increased number of cars onsite at PHE. While waiting in the car rider line, please keep a close distance between cars. Also, adults should remain in or near their cars. A staff member will escort your child to you/your car. Adults should NOT walk up to the main entrance of the building to wait for students to exit.

Please note that all dismissal changes need to be made in writing. Dismissal changes by phone are reserved for emergencies only, and a callback may be made to verify the change. Changes to student dismissal procedures, including temporary bus changes, MUST be requested by a parent/guardian. NO changes will be honored at a student’s request.

Students cannot be released to persons not listed in our school records associated with each family. Please make the office aware if a friend and/or relative is picking up your child, and that person is not listed in our student information system or on the child’s Emergency Care Card. Everyone picking up students will be asked to show proper State-issued photo identification as verification prior to the student being released. Students will NOT be released to any person without this valid identification. The photo identification will be scanned through the Raptor Visitor Management System for clearance. We ask for your cooperation and understanding with this procedure, as it helps to ensure the safety and well-being of our students.