From Principal Washington's Jan 9 email:

Additionally, I want to emphasize the importance of getting to school on time for our "Kiss n Ride" families. We are currently seeing a high number of students arriving after the first bell rings at 7:25 AM. These students must then check in at the main office and complete their security screening, which often results in them being late for their first class. Given that morning traffic can be unpredictable and the security process takes time, please aim to have your child at school early enough to be in their seat by 7:25 AM. We are committed to getting every student through security in a safe and timely manner, and your punctuality is a vital part of that success. Please remember that students should not be dropped off on McLearen Road, EDS Drive, or anywhere else, besides our Kiss n Ride loop. Doing so causes a safety hazard to our students, and we want to make arrival and dismissal as safe as possible. Additionally, please be patient and courteous with each other when in the Kiss n Ride line, as everyone has somewhere to be but we should all want to make sure that everyone gets there in a safe manner.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never seen another school with such poorly designed drop-off traffic. At Rachel Carson, there is only one lane to enter the school, whether you are dropping off a student or parking. Everyone must then drive through the circle past the parking lot to exit. During the morning rush, it is always heavily congested.

The tardy policy has also become much stricter. The main entrance closes at 7:25 a.m., and now the school has implemented a rule that even if a student enters the building before 7:25, they will still be sent to the office for a tardy pass if they cannot reach their classroom by that time. I don’t understand the reasoning behind this—surely it takes time for students to walk from the entrance to their classrooms.

Even more concerning is that students who enter the classroom carrying their backpacks are being sent to the office for a tardy pass, yet there is no written policy stating this requirement.

What I don’t understand is why, in elementary school, most teachers and staff are very supportive and approachable, but the experience seems to become increasingly rigid in middle school and high school.

I remember at the open house and back to school night, the principal and teachers stressed how much of a nightmare the kiss and ride is and said to take the bus if possible and if not, to arrive as early as possible. Then at the beginning of the school year, they sent out a ton of reminders about the same thing. It's second semester. If your child is still regularly late to school, then that means YOU need to make some changes to your schedule. Leave 10 minutes early starting tomorrow.

hat’s not the point. From a policy standpoint, if you expect kids to be seated in the classroom promptly at 7:25 a.m., then the main entrance should be closed at 7:15 a.m. so everyone clearly understands what to do.

Why is this so hard? If you chose to drive your kid to school so they can sleep in later, you still need to be on time. Some kids might be able to get to their locker and class by 7:25am if they arrive at 7:20am. But if the rule in the handbook and verbally told to parents at the open house was the had to be in their seats at 7:25am it sounds like everyone should know what to do?

Part of the problem could be solved fairly easily. Parent's have been explicitly told not to let their kids off outside on McLearen.

Have the officer who is stationed at carson go out to the traffic light and direct traffic. The whole traffic situation occurs because people can't leave carson, so new cars can't move so that kids can be dropped off at the kiss and ride. Getting there earlier doesn't solve that problem.

Of course we could drop the silly metal detectors that kids are told to hold their notebooks and laptops above their heads so they don't set it off. Honestly what could probably end those things is every kid setting it off on purpose for a week or two and getting a secondary screening.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Students need to be seated in their classrooms by 7:25am. If they are not, they are tardy. I am glad that Rachel Carson is trying to get a handle on the ridiculous number of tardy students. Please have a little more respect for your child's education.

are you reading the message? the kid is in classroom before 7:25am. But was sent back to office to get tardy pass because she carried her backpack.

Is your kid supposed to drag her backpack on the ground?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never seen another school with such poorly designed drop-off traffic. At Rachel Carson, there is only one lane to enter the school, whether you are dropping off a student or parking. Everyone must then drive through the circle past the parking lot to exit. During the morning rush, it is always heavily congested.

The tardy policy has also become much stricter. The main entrance closes at 7:25 a.m., and now the school has implemented a rule that even if a student enters the building before 7:25, they will still be sent to the office for a tardy pass if they cannot reach their classroom by that time. I don’t understand the reasoning behind this—surely it takes time for students to walk from the entrance to their classrooms.

Even more concerning is that students who enter the classroom carrying their backpacks are being sent to the office for a tardy pass, yet there is no written policy stating this requirement.

What I don’t understand is why, in elementary school, most teachers and staff are very supportive and approachable, but the experience seems to become increasingly rigid in middle school and high school.

I remember at the open house and back to school night, the principal and teachers stressed how much of a nightmare the kiss and ride is and said to take the bus if possible and if not, to arrive as early as possible. Then at the beginning of the school year, they sent out a ton of reminders about the same thing. It's second semester. If your child is still regularly late to school, then that means YOU need to make some changes to your schedule. Leave 10 minutes early starting tomorrow.

hat’s not the point. From a policy standpoint, if you expect kids to be seated in the classroom promptly at 7:25 a.m., then the main entrance should be closed at 7:15 a.m. so everyone clearly understands what to do.

Why is this so hard? If you chose to drive your kid to school so they can sleep in later, you still need to be on time. Some kids might be able to get to their locker and class by 7:25am if they arrive at 7:20am. But if the rule in the handbook and verbally told to parents at the open house was the had to be in their seats at 7:25am it sounds like everyone should know what to do?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never seen another school with such poorly designed drop-off traffic. At Rachel Carson, there is only one lane to enter the school, whether you are dropping off a student or parking. Everyone must then drive through the circle past the parking lot to exit. During the morning rush, it is always heavily congested.

The tardy policy has also become much stricter. The main entrance closes at 7:25 a.m., and now the school has implemented a rule that even if a student enters the building before 7:25, they will still be sent to the office for a tardy pass if they cannot reach their classroom by that time. I don’t understand the reasoning behind this—surely it takes time for students to walk from the entrance to their classrooms.

Even more concerning is that students who enter the classroom carrying their backpacks are being sent to the office for a tardy pass, yet there is no written policy stating this requirement.

What I don’t understand is why, in elementary school, most teachers and staff are very supportive and approachable, but the experience seems to become increasingly rigid in middle school and high school.

I remember at the open house and back to school night, the principal and teachers stressed how much of a nightmare the kiss and ride is and said to take the bus if possible and if not, to arrive as early as possible. Then at the beginning of the school year, they sent out a ton of reminders about the same thing. It's second semester. If your child is still regularly late to school, then that means YOU need to make some changes to your schedule. Leave 10 minutes early starting tomorrow.

hat’s not the point. From a policy standpoint, if you expect kids to be seated in the classroom promptly at 7:25 a.m., then the main entrance should be closed at 7:15 a.m. so everyone clearly understands what to do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crappy traffic followed me from navy to carson.

Easy answer: school bus

Line for security is for bus riders too. There is chaos. My child is perpetually late even though bus arrives at 7:10-7:25. It’s an administrative failure.

My child takes the bus every day and does complain about the line for security but has never been late to class. If the bus is late, they're not tardy.

You should consider dropping your child off 15 minutes earlier.

The reason is simple. The middle school starts very early. And some school bus also arrives very early. By dropping off the kid can sleep little more.

Yes, well, it sounds like you need to wake your kid up 10 minutes early so you can leave the house 10 minutes earlier so he's not late to school.

Anonymous wrote:I have never seen another school with such poorly designed drop-off traffic. At Rachel Carson, there is only one lane to enter the school, whether you are dropping off a student or parking. Everyone must then drive through the circle past the parking lot to exit. During the morning rush, it is always heavily congested.

The tardy policy has also become much stricter. The main entrance closes at 7:25 a.m., and now the school has implemented a rule that even if a student enters the building before 7:25, they will still be sent to the office for a tardy pass if they cannot reach their classroom by that time. I don’t understand the reasoning behind this—surely it takes time for students to walk from the entrance to their classrooms.

Even more concerning is that students who enter the classroom carrying their backpacks are being sent to the office for a tardy pass, yet there is no written policy stating this requirement.

What I don’t understand is why, in elementary school, most teachers and staff are very supportive and approachable, but the experience seems to become increasingly rigid in middle school and high school.

I remember at the open house and back to school night, the principal and teachers stressed how much of a nightmare the kiss and ride is and said to take the bus if possible and if not, to arrive as early as possible. Then at the beginning of the school year, they sent out a ton of reminders about the same thing. It's second semester. If your child is still regularly late to school, then that means YOU need to make some changes to your schedule. Leave 10 minutes early starting tomorrow.

Anonymous wrote:Why would you need to park? The people who park are clogging up the line. You should not be parking and walking your kid up. Go through the line and drop them off at kids & ride

It’s the same route whether you want to park or just drop off — everything is extremely jammed.

Why would you need to park? The people who park are clogging up the line. You should not be parking and walking your kid up. Go through the line and drop them off at kids & ride

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crappy traffic followed me from navy to carson.

Easy answer: school bus

Line for security is for bus riders too. There is chaos. My child is perpetually late even though bus arrives at 7:10-7:25. It’s an administrative failure.

My child takes the bus every day and does complain about the line for security but has never been late to class. If the bus is late, they're not tardy.

You should consider dropping your child off 15 minutes earlier.

The reason is simple. The middle school starts very early. And some school bus also arrives very early. By dropping off the kid can sleep little more.

Anonymous wrote:The security theater at Carson is the tip of the iceberg. Teachers are wonderful, but admin is making their life extremely hard with policies like making announcements threatening 3 tardies equal a suspension and telling teachers they have to lock their doors at 7:25. My 7th grader has multiple tardies and we just ignore it at this point because it is only first period class and we see she arrived to the front of school on time via my bus app. Admin is a mess, cannot executive plan on an appropriate level and passes the buck onto unruly students. Good luck suspending a kid for tardies during first period only when they are standing in your poorly run security line out front.

Make sure you fill out the new survey about making discipline consistent across all FCPS schools then.

Btw, are you a Navy parent complaining about Mr. Washington? Are you one of the parents who got the black principal at Navy fired?

Anonymous wrote:Crappy traffic followed me from navy to carson.

Why didn't you send your child to their base school? I have never heard anyone complain about traffic at Franklin.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crappy traffic followed me from navy to carson.

Easy answer: school bus

Line for security is for bus riders too. There is chaos. My child is perpetually late even though bus arrives at 7:10-7:25. It’s an administrative failure.

My child takes the bus every day and does complain about the line for security but has never been late to class. If the bus is late, they're not tardy.

You should consider dropping your child off 15 minutes earlier.

Yes so if you want kids to sit in classroom by 7:25am, should the school change the main entrance close time to 7:15? so everyone is clear on what to do?

Anonymous wrote:I have never seen another school with such poorly designed drop-off traffic. At Rachel Carson, there is only one lane to enter the school, whether you are dropping off a student or parking. Everyone must then drive through the circle past the parking lot to exit. During the morning rush, it is always heavily congested.

The tardy policy has also become much stricter. The main entrance closes at 7:25 a.m., and now the school has implemented a rule that even if a student enters the building before 7:25, they will still be sent to the office for a tardy pass if they cannot reach their classroom by that time. I don’t understand the reasoning behind this—surely it takes time for students to walk from the entrance to their classrooms.

Even more concerning is that students who enter the classroom carrying their backpacks are being sent to the office for a tardy pass, yet there is no written policy stating this requirement.

What I don’t understand is why, in elementary school, most teachers and staff are very supportive and approachable, but the experience seems to become increasingly rigid in middle school and high school.

That has always been the rule. Butts need to be in seats by 7:25. Not just entering the building. Your kid needs time to enter, get to lockers and get to class. Which means you should aim for drop off no later than 7:15 am. Which means you’ll need to leave your house earlier. I’m sorry.

We dealt with Carson kiss n ride for 2 years. We had to leave the house no later than 6:55 am in order to get a drop off by 7:15 am. Any later and we were screwed.