How early for school pickup line?

[Anonymous]

At my DCs school if you don't get there 15 minutes before dismissal then it's better to wait until 10-15 mins after dismissal. We are done in a few minutes. Kids know that we pick up later rather than earlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At my DCs school if you don't get there 15 minutes before dismissal then it's better to wait until 10-15 mins after dismissal. We are done in a few minutes. Kids know that we pick up later rather than earlier.

Same. I find 5-7 minutes after dismissal the sweet spot. My kids know I’m one of the last.

[Anonymous]

At DD's school, you have to be there at least 45 minutes before dismissal, to be near the head of the line. But, you don't end up waiting in the road if you go half an hour or even 20 minutes before dismissal. Any later....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The crazies are there over 1 hour early everyday. It's insane. I show up for thr car rider line 15 mins prior to dismissal time.

I'm at my kids' school half an hour early almost every day. I'm not crazy. I have a job that ends at a certain time. I need to leave. If I went home, I'd be there for 2 minutes before I needed to leave, and waste a bunch of gas. I could sit in the parking lot at work, or in carpool line. So, I go to school, sit in carpool line, return some emails, and the pick them up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At DD's school, you have to be there at least 45 minutes before dismissal, to be near the head of the line. But, you don't end up waiting in the road if you go half an hour or even 20 minutes before dismissal. Any later....

Lt me guess - Chesterbrook in McLean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is more of a general question, but...if pick up lines are taking 15-30 mins, wouldn't it just make more sense/be faster to park somewhere in the vicinity and walk up to get your kid? Is that allowed? That's an option my kid's school.

That’s what I always did.

[Anonymous]

out of curiosity - do all of these schools not provide school bus service? This is a totally foreign concept to me, just trying to better understand how this all works. Parents have to pick up their kids every day from school, waiting in car lines that are several blocks long?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:out of curiosity - do all of these schools not provide school bus service? This is a totally foreign concept to me, just trying to better understand how this all works. Parents have to pick up their kids every day from school, waiting in car lines that are several blocks long?

It depends. In FCPS if you live within about a mile of school you are a walker and can either walk home or your parents can pick you up in the kids n ride. If you are a bus rider lots of parents do kiss and ride anyway since the buses can often take a very long time to get the kids home, hours sometimes due to bus driver shortages.

My kids usually walk to school but on super cold days or rainy days I just drive and park near the school and walk to get them then we walk the 1 block back to the school. It is easier than working your way through the super long kiss and ride.

[Anonymous]

Who are these people arriving 45 minutes early so they can wait that long every single day? Does your time have no value to you? Why do you need to be at the front of the line?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:out of curiosity - do all of these schools not provide school bus service? This is a totally foreign concept to me, just trying to better understand how this all works. Parents have to pick up their kids every day from school, waiting in car lines that are several blocks long?

Three out of five days, my daughter needs to be picked up, so she can get to her after school activities on time. For instance, today, she has violin lesson at 4:30. Bus drops off around 4:40 if she's on time. Since Omicron, she requested pickup all days. I can do that, so I do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At DD's school, you have to be there at least 45 minutes before dismissal, to be near the head of the line. But, you don't end up waiting in the road if you go half an hour or even 20 minutes before dismissal. Any later....

Lt me guess - Chesterbrook in McLean?

No, Bull Run.

[Anonymous]

My kids are technically “walkers” (we live a mile away) so I wait for them on a side street and they walk to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:out of curiosity - do all of these schools not provide school bus service? This is a totally foreign concept to me, just trying to better understand how this all works. Parents have to pick up their kids every day from school, waiting in car lines that are several blocks long?

Three out of five days, my daughter needs to be picked up, so she can get to her after school activities on time. For instance, today, she has violin lesson at 4:30. Bus drops off around 4:40 if she's on time. Since Omicron, she requested pickup all days. I can do that, so I do.

We had this issue but MCPS didn't provide bus service. It was a bit too far to walk and the quick way involved going through woods and not comfortable with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who are these people arriving 45 minutes early so they can wait that long every single day? Does your time have no value to you? Why do you need to be at the front of the line?

I am the pp who said it’s what works with my work schedule. I use that time to get things done, return a call. Go through work email, pay bills.

[Anonymous]

SACC is the school aftercare program right? My kids go too. So you can pick up whenever (until they close). I would probably not go right at dismissal time to avoid the busy time. There is not usually a line to pick up from SACC.