Drop off line policies...Important?

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine who teaches in a K-8 in NOVA shared that in a letter of recommendation form (kid was leaving due to move), she was asked a lot about how compliant the family was with pick up and drop off policies.

Are there schools where this is SOOO important it is a line item that impacts admission?

Could it be that the school has neighbors who don't appreciate traffic?

Is it just a "sample" of whether or not the parents (or caregivers) entitled?

Blatantly stirring the pot here but just curious if the carpool line issue is a big deal in your private schools (K-8 especially).
My kids were walkers. May have missed the drama.

[Anonymous]

Could be that the question is more about weeding out those who feel like “the rules don’t apply to me” than it really being about the carpool line. It’s actually kind of a genius question in terms of sussing out who is about themselves rather than the community.

[Anonymous]

If the kid is moving out of the area, the question doesn’t say anything about the priorities of schools here.

[Anonymous]

Is it about the drop-off line or regularly being tardy or being late to pick your kid up from school? I could imagine the latter would be a worthwhile consideration.

[Anonymous]

Mine is at a k-8 and we have a carpool line for drop off and you can park and walk thru as well. Pick up though there is no carpool.
I think ours works fine, the parking lot is a bit of a shit show because there’s no one way everyone goes.

[Anonymous]

I think there are two things to understand here.

One is that private schools need to get along with their neighbors, because if they don't, the neighbors can put in place restrictions that make things very difficult. Look at what GDS has gone through, or NCRC, or Green Acres, or many other schools. Often agreements with neighbors have very specific requirements for pick up and drop off, and when parents violate those agreements, it can put the school's ability to expand or change things in jeopardy. So, schools have a very strong incentive avoid parents who don't follow the rules.

The other is that there are plenty of parents who are very selfish at carpool. They try to skip the line, but driving next to the carpool line, putting kids at risk. They don't wait their turn and make everyone else's carpool time longer. They are generally a pain in the neck. And people who are selfish in carpool are almost always the people who don't add positively to the community. So, schools want to keep them out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there are two things to understand here.

One is that private schools need to get along with their neighbors, because if they don't, the neighbors can put in place restrictions that make things very difficult. Look at what GDS has gone through, or NCRC, or Green Acres, or many other schools. Often agreements with neighbors have very specific requirements for pick up and drop off, and when parents violate those agreements, it can put the school's ability to expand or change things in jeopardy. So, schools have a very strong incentive avoid parents who don't follow the rules.

The other is that there are plenty of parents who are very selfish at carpool. They try to skip the line, but driving next to the carpool line, putting kids at risk. They don't wait their turn and make everyone else's carpool time longer. They are generally a pain in the neck. And people who are selfish in carpool are almost always the people who don't add positively to the community. So, schools want to keep them out.

OP here. That makes sense (point 1) since some of these schools with lovely campuses also have neighbors with really nice homes, and don't want to be inconvenienced.

The 2nd point is even stronger. Kind of a pattern of behavior question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could be that the question is more about weeding out those who feel like “the rules don’t apply to me” than it really being about the carpool line. It’s actually kind of a genius question in terms of sussing out who is about themselves rather than the community.

That makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A friend of mine who teaches in a K-8 in NOVA shared that in a letter of recommendation form (kid was leaving due to move), she was asked a lot about how compliant the family was with pick up and drop off policies.

Are there schools where this is SOOO important it is a line item that impacts admission?

Could it be that the school has neighbors who don't appreciate traffic?

Is it just a "sample" of whether or not the parents (or caregivers) entitled?

Blatantly stirring the pot here but just curious if the carpool line issue is a big deal in your private schools (K-8 especially).
My kids were walkers. May have missed the drama.

As a former school administrator, I love this.

[Anonymous]

I teach at a public school, and my kid was at private for a few years. This question is brilliant. There are huge safety issues around pick up and drop off, and there were parents at our private school who never followed the rules and always cut the line. At the school where I work, it is inevitably the parents and not the teachers who drive too fast, block the fire lane, etc. It is a good marker for entitlement, and I've totally seen this correlate with how folks act in other contexts too.

[Anonymous]

Got to love how this would be a deal-breaker but not parents posting drunken after parties at their house. That's totally okay.

[Anonymous]

FFS. Just get the kid to school. Who cares how they get there. I hate the DMV, with all the snobby, neurotic BS.

[Anonymous]

I love this question!

It is similar to when hiring managers use interviewee’s interactions with receptionists and janitorial staff to make hiring decisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could be that the question is more about weeding out those who feel like “the rules don’t apply to me” than it really being about the carpool line. It’s actually kind of a genius question in terms of sussing out who is about themselves rather than the community.

This.

[Anonymous]

This is kind of like finding out whether teachers (or any potential hires) ever leave the copier jammed, or whether they’re the ones who help others fix it. Excellent barometer.