South Orangetown Central School District

School Arrival and Dismissal Procedures

William O. Schaefer Elementary School

Arrival

  • Buses will unload beginning at 9:15AM.
  • Parent/guardian drop off will occur at the front main entrance beginning at 9:15AM. Please drop your child off at the entrance/exit of the front semi-circular driveway. There will be staff members present to direct students into the building. WOS cannot accommodate student arrivals prior to 9:15AM.
  • Parents/guardians and students must wear masks and socially distance at drop off.
  • Active screening of all students will occur as they enter the building. A COVID-19 questionnaire with temperature check at home is required to be completed and submitted to school daily. These will be reviewed and followed up with as deemed necessary by the main office and school nurse.
  • Students will proceed directly to their classrooms where attendance will be taken by their classroom teacher.
  • Students who wish to stop to eat breakfast in the cafeteria may do so as they arrive at school and then proceed directly to their classrooms.

Dismissal

  • The front semi-circular driveway will be closed to all traffic from 2:50-4:00PM. When parking on Lester Drive, please be aware of driveways and designated fire lanes.
  • Parent/guardian pick-up will begin at 3:30PM from the main playground area and is not permitted before this time. Parents/guardians and students must wear masks and socially distance at pick up. Please prepare for inclement weather as pick up will remain outside.
    • If you plan to pick up your child at dismissal every school day (“daily pick up”), please email attendanceWOS@socsd.org by Friday, September 3 so that we can share the daily pickup list with our staff prior to the first day of school. This will help us to ensure that students who are daily pick ups are directed to the pick up area at dismissal rather than to the buses.
    • If your child is not a daily pick up, please make sure that you send in a note in the morning to your child’s teacher or email attendanceWOS@socsd.org advising us that you will be picking him or her up at dismissal that day. The teacher and office will then know beforehand that your child should not get on the bus that afternoon.
  • Buses will be called as they arrive at school and students will be dismissed directly from their classrooms. Staff will be located in the hallway to help students quickly and safely get on their bus lines. Buses will begin departing at 3:30PM.

Early Pick Up Procedures

  •  If your child is an early pick up, please arrange for pick up prior to 2:45 PM so that it does not disrupt teacher instruction or our dismissal procedures.
  • Please make sure that you send in a note in the morning to your student’s teacher or email attendanceWOS@socsd.org advising us that you will be picking him or her up that day.
  • Parents/guardians and students must wear masks and socially distance at pick up.

Cottage Lane Elementary School

Arrival

  • Buses will unload, beginning at 9:10AM.
  • Parents drop off will occur at the Cottage Lane driveway entrance beginning at 9:10AM. Parents will not need to park and should proceed as directed by security to exit the parking lot. CLE cannot accommodate student arrivals prior to 9:10AM unless they are part of a morning enrichment program or music lesson.
  • Active screening of all students will occur as they enter the building. A COVID-19 questionnaire with temperature check at home is required to be completed and submitted to school daily. These will be reviewed and followed up with as deemed necessary by the main office and school nurse.
  • Students will proceed directly to their classrooms where attendance will be taken by their classroom teacher.
  • Students who wish to stop to eat breakfast in the cafeteria may do so as they arrive at school and then proceed directly to their classrooms.

Dismissal

  • Students will be dismissed directly from their classrooms.
  • Walkers will be dismissed at 3:30PM.
  • Buses will begin departing from outside the front entrance at 3:35PM.
  • Parent/guardian pick-up will begin at 3:30PM and is not permitted before this time. Parents must park and sign their children out from the fenced basketball court area. Please prepare for inclement weather as pick up will remain outside.

Pick Up Procedures

  • Parents and guardians may pick up students from the end of the 400 wing (the door near the playground) at 3:40PM. Parents my wait at the gate to the playground and will not enter the building for pick up.
  • Please note that there will be no pick ups between 3:00-3:40PM unless there is an emergency.
  • Bus lanes will be closed between 3:00-4:00PM.
  • “Walkers” who are picked up by parents waiting in cars in the parking lot and on Western Highway create a serious safety hazard. Students are at risk of being hit by cars or buses when darting across the busy driveway, often between exiting buses and cars. Please help us keep your children safe by parking your car and proceeding to the designated pick up area to pick them up.
  • All students that are walking home, will be directed to walk down Cottage Lane where there is a sidewalk and crossing guard on the corner of Erie Street.

It is important that our students are in school all day every day and ready to learn. Chronic absenteeism impacts student success. Children who are regularly picked up before dismissal time miss valuable instruction. One of the most important things parents can do to support their children’s education is to keep them in school for the full day, every day.

South Orangetown Middle School

Students must wear masks and socially distance during drop off and pick up. Parents who exit their vehicles must also wear masks and socially distance. However, it is strongly advised that parents/guardians remain in their vehicles unless absolutely necessary to exit their vehicles.

Arrival

  • Buses will begin to arrive and unload at 8:10AM in the Erie Street parking lot. Staggered approach of letting students off of the buses?
  • Parent drive-through drop off will begin at 8:10AM at the main entrance on Van Wyck Road. SOMS cannot accommodate student arrivals prior to 8:10AM.
  • Active screening of all students will occur as they enter the building. A COVID-19 questionnaire with temperature check at home is required to be completed and submitted to school daily. These will be reviewed and followed up with as deemed necessary by the main office and school nurse.
  • Students will report directly to their homeroom (Period 1 class) where attendance will be taken. and are not permitted to congregate in hallways.
  • Lockers will not be used. Students should make sure they have the materials needed for their day at school in their backpacks. Additionally, lockers will not be used for Physical Education classes, so students should make sure they are wearing appropriate clothing on their scheduled Physical Education days.

Dismissal

  • Students will be dismissed alphabetically from their 9th period class according to a staggered dismissal process to facilitate social distancing.
  • Starting at 3:00PM, buses will begin departing from the driveway in front of the main entrance on Van Wyck Road.
  • Parent/guardian student pick-up will occur in the Erie Street parking lot starting at 3:00PM and is not permitted before this time. Please prepare for inclement weather as pick up will remain outside.

Tappan Zee High School

Students must wear masks and socially distance during drop off and pick up. Parents who exit their vehicles must also wear masks and socially distance. However, it is strongly advised that parents/guardians remain in their vehicles unless absolutely necessary to exit their vehicles.

Arrival

  • Buses will begin to arrive and unload at 8:10AM. Buses will drop off students at the main entrance. Buses will drop off students one bus at a time. Once a bus is empty, the next bus will approach the main entrance and let students off.
  • Parent/guardian drop off will begin at 8:10AM at the Dutchmen Arena entrance off Bataan Road. TZHS cannot accommodate student arrivals prior to 8:10AM. Parents should remain in their vehicles while dropping off their children.
  • Students who drive will park in the lot near the tennis court on Dutch Hill Road and will enter the building through the auditorium lobby entrance. Students who walk or ride their bike should also enter through the auditorium lobby entrance.
  • Active screening of all students will occur as they enter the building. A COVID-19 questionnaire with temperature check at home is required to be completed and submitted to school daily. These will be reviewed and followed up with as deemed necessary by the main office and school nurse.
  • Students will report directly to their classrooms and are not permitted to congregate in hallways or cafeteria.
  • Lockers will not be used. Students should make sure they have the materials needed for their day at school in their backpacks. Additionally, lockers will not be used for Physical Education classes so students should make sure they are wearing appropriate clothing on their scheduled Physical Education days.

Dismissal

  • Students will be dismissed from their 9th period class alphabetically according to a staggered dismissal process to facilitate social distancing.
  • Buses will begin departing at 3:00PM from the front of the building.
  • Parents may pick up students near the Dutchmen Arena entrance (Bataan Road) starting at 3:00PM. Please prepare for inclement weather as pick up will remain outside.