The Alva School

The Alva School 2025-2026

Arrival 

• Elementary Parent Drop-Off: Elementary students and middle-level students WITH elementary siblings are dropped off via Church Avenue. Before school, Church Avenue is used as a one-way street. We highly encourage cars to use both lanes of Church Avenue to keep traffic from backing up on Bay Street. The drop-off line will hold at the stop sign until a staff member waves traffic into the parking lot at 7:10. Cars will then take turns merging as they enter the parking lot. Parents wishing to drop off students at Before Care or needing to park and enter the office will enter the campus via Park Street. Once drop-off begins, Park Street becomes an exit street.

• Students arriving on campus before 7:10 must attend the before-care program. 

• For the safety of all students, parents must drive through the parent drop-off loop. We have adults on the sidewalk helping to direct students safely into the building. Please do not park and cross traffic to walk your student into the building. 
• Students arriving after 7:30 will be marked tardy. Any tardy child will have to be walked into the school by an adult because the gate will be closed and the office doors will be locked. 

• Walkers are not permitted onto campus before 7:10. They will enter campus via the crosswalk at Bay and Julia and proceed through the gates on the bus ramp. Walkers arriving after 7:30 will need to report to the front office. 
• Middle Level Drop-Off: Middle-level students with no elementary siblings will be dropped off on the east side of our campus, entering from North River Road (78) and Park Street. We have a NEW entrance and temporary loop holding 50+ cars utilizing the PE field gate on Park Street just past the intersection,  around the PE field, and entering the middle level parking lot from the blacktop area and to allow for exiting back through Park Street. The goal is to avoid any backup onto 78. Any backup/stacking of overflow traffic should run the east boundary of the PE field heading south on 78, NOT the church parking lot and field.  

• Starting at  6:50, parents can enter the PPU loop inside the PE Field Gate to wait for the middle level parking lot to open at 7:10 AM. Only students inside a car should be in this area. Please pull forward as much as possible to allow for maximum capacity. 

• At 7:10 AM, all school gates will be opened to allow parents to pull as close as possible to the exit, with their student safely exiting the vehicle to head towards Building 4.

• NEW: Parents EXITING the middle PPU MUST exit left back onto Park Street to exit RIGHT onto 78. WE ARE NO LONGER EXITING SOUTH BY THE BUS RAMP (Map).

Dismissal 

• Elementary Parent Pick-Up- Please expect long and slow lines in the beginning as we adjust to a new school year. Typically, we have more parent pick-up students the first couple of weeks. Please know that we are ready for the flow of traffic, but our students will be learning to dismiss, and many parents, who are new to the pick-up line, will be learning to navigate the traffic patterns.

• All parents must have a hanging 25-26 car tag displayed. Please keep the tag displayed until you have received your student. Parents who do not have a car tag need to show their state-issued ID and may be asked to park and  enter the office. 
• Please do not exit the car to open doors for your child or to buckle car seats. We highly recommend that the passenger side rear seat is clear for your child to enter from the sidewalk. Cars where students need to walk around will be delayed and asked to move to the front of the line. If you need to buckle your student, please pull forward out of the flow of traffic to do so. 
• Any child picked up after 2:30 (or once the parent pick-up line has cleared and students have been taken inside) is considered a late pick-up and will be charged the same fee as students in the after-care program. 

• Middle Level Parent Pick-Up- Students will be dismissed at 2:00 this year. The gate near 78 and Park will open at 1:40 to allow parents to wait off of 78. The parking lot gate will open at 2:00, with parents quickly pulling forward to pickup students who will walk to their car. 

•  When exiting Middle PPU parking lot, you MUST TURN LEFT back to Park Map . We are no longer exiting right towards the bus ramp, front of the school, to avoid interaction with Elementary PPU.   

• At the stop sign at Park and 78, please only turn right. 

• If traffic backs up onto 78, please wait on the east boundary of the PE field heading south on 78, NOT the church parking lot and field. If coming from the south, this may require you to turn around at the county park just north of our school. 

• Rainy Day and Inclement Weather- If there is lightning within 10 miles or torrential downpours during parent pick-up, we will do the following:

• If there is lightning within a few miles, school personnel and students will not be outside until it is safe. This may cause a delay in dismissal.
• All walkers will be held on campus until it is safe to dismiss.
• If inclement weather persists, walkers will be dismissed via parent pick-up.

Continuing Into the 2025-2026 School Year

The Alva School will continue to experience adjustments to our parent pick-up and drop-off routes and procedures as we begin the construction of our new Elementary and Middle level paths. We will update routes as necessary, and appreciate your understanding and flexibility as we forward to the final path that will eliminate vehicles parking on 78, and provide a safe entrance and exit to our school.