Dear Good Shepherd Families,

Welcome to the 2020-2021 School Year!

We have traffic safety and carpool reminders, as well as some modified routes, to share as we return to school. Thank you so much for following these instructions and for being courteous to each other. It is always a little congested as we come back on campus and get back in the routine. These procedures will help keep you and your children safe and will allow the carpool traffic to move as efficiently and quickly as possible.

At this time, due to COVID-19, there are some new instructions and added procedures to our normal traffic flow, particularly for our prekindergarten students. Please read through to the end.

Carpool and Parking: Carpool procedures have been developed with the safety of our students, faculty, and staff in mind. Carpool tags will be distributed at your chosen Meet-the-Teacher time slot. For security and safety purposes, all carpool tags must be displayed when entering campus for both drop-off and pick-up. Middle school families will be issued carpool tags with numbers for the 2020-2021 school year, to adhere to carpool safety protocols. For children’s safety, all body parts are to be inside the car until the door is opened.

Students are to be dropped off and picked up in the designated carpool areas. PreKindergarten students must be dropped off and picked up from Kelsoe Cottage or Nix. Kindergarten through fourth grade students must be dropped off and picked up from the Northaven parking lot. Students should be ready to depart the car from the right passenger side. No children will be allowed to exit the vehicle from the driver’s side. All middle school students must be dropped off and picked up from the middle school parking lot south of Hoffman Middle School.

Under no circumstances may students be dropped off or picked up in the Midway parking lot in front of Mackey Chapel/Nichols Hall, Trinity Hall, Nix, or Kelsoe Cottage (except for PreKindergarten students). Students staying for Extended Day will be picked up at their designated locations, by grade level. These locations will be included in the welcome email sent directly from Extended Day prior to the start of school.

Arrival: When possible, separate entrances into the school buildings will be utilized to assist with social distancing. All Faculty and staff will be utilized for carpool duty to maintain a line of sight in hallways and distancing of students in the hallways. Students will go straight to their classrooms. Parents must stay in their cars and will not be allowed to walk students to classrooms.

You should have received welcome information from Ascend and will soon receive your login information. If you did not, please contact support@gsesdallas.org. Each day, you will need to log into Ascend and share any symptoms and temperature for your child(ren). Ascend will confirm with a large green check mark ✔ your child is cleared to come to campus. Once at school, you will show your phone screen noting your student has been cleared to be on campus and we will check your child(ren)’s temperature again. You must have this information to be allowed on campus. If you receive a red X indicating you are unable to come to campus and you feel this is in error, please contact ascend@gsesdallas.org, providing the reason for your error, your child’s temperature and any atypical symptoms, and contact information. We will contact you as soon as your email has been reviewed.

PreKindergarten: Students arrive on campus between 8:05 a.m. and 8:20 a.m., and will follow the middle school carpool route. Students will be dropped off at Kelsoe Cottage or Nix and go directly to their classrooms after drop-off. CLICK HERE for the PreKindergarten carpool map.

Kindergarten and Primer: Students arrive on campus between 8:00 a.m. and 8:15 a.m., and are dropped off in front of Kincaid Pavilion. Students will go directly to their classrooms after drop-off. CLICK HERE for the carpool map.

First and Second Grades: Students arrive on campus between 7:45 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., and are dropped off in front of Kincaid Pavilion. Students will go directly to their classrooms after drop-off. CLICK HERE for the carpool map.

Third and Fourth Grades: Students arrive on campus between 7:30 a.m. and 7:45 a.m., and are dropped off in front of Kincaid Pavilion. Students will go directly to their classrooms after drop-off. CLICK HERE for the carpool map.

Fifth and Sixth Grades: Students arrive on campus between 7:45 a.m. and 7:55 a.m., enter the middle school building, and report directly to their advisory classrooms. CLICK HERE for the carpool map.

7th and 8th Grades: Students arrive on campus between 7:30 a.m. and 7:45 a.m., enter the middle school building, and report directly to their advisory classrooms. CLICK HERE for the carpool map.

Dismissal: Good Shepherd will designate staggered dismissal groups. Staggering the groups will help manage student movement in the building and decrease the risk of potential crowding outside during dismissal time. Sanitizer stations will be placed at each exit, and students will be encouraged to sanitize hands prior to exiting. Sibling connections will be conducted outside of the building. Separate exits will be utilized to assist with social distancing. Parents picking up students during the day will call ahead to the main school number, 214.357.1610, so students can be sent, or accompanied, to parent vehicles upon arrival.

Middle school students may use their cell phones after school dismissal to call parents while waiting in their designated areas.
All students not picked up by the end of carpool will remain with their class and are subject to a fee of $5.00 per minute, per family member, for all or part of the first five minutes, and $2.00 for each additional minute, per family member. Students may be checked out through Kincaid Pavilion.
There will be no Early-Bird or Drop-In Programs offered during the 2020-2021 school year.

Daily Schedule:

PreKindergarten 8:20 a.m. - 2:50 p.m.

Kindergarten - Primer 8:15 a.m. - 2:50 p.m.

First & Second Grade 8:00 a.m. - 3:05 p.m.

Third & Fourth Grade 8:00 a.m - 3:15 p.m.

Fifth & Sixth Grade 7:45 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Seventh & Eighth Grade 7:30 a.m. - 3:15 p.m.

Carpool Schedule:

PreKindergarten 8:05-8:20 a.m. and 2:50-3:05 p.m.

Kindergarten - Primer 8:00-8:15 a.m. and 2:50-3:05 p.m.

First & Second Grade 7:45-8:00 a.m. and 3:05-3:15 p.m.

Third & Fourth Grade 7:30-7:45 a.m. and 3:15-3:30 p.m.

Fifth & Sixth Grade 7:45-7:55 a.m. and 3:30-3:45 p.m.

Seventh & Eighth Grade 7:30-7:45 a.m. and 3:15-3:30 p.m.

Thank you for being an example of someone who is “leading with courage” for your children and to all those who come on our campus by following the additional instructions outlined below:

Please note it is imperative to have your car tags visible before you enter campus. These tags help our officers to both better direct you onto campus and watch for cars who do not belong in our carpool lines. Carpool pickup will be via your specific tag #s with release from the classroom and staff must be able to see your carpool tag #s.
Please do not arrive for carpool pick-up ahead of your child’s release time. This will reduce everyone’s wait times.
Early Childhood and Lower school (LS) students may not be dropped off or picked up in middle school (MS) carpool. If you do have a Kinder, Primer, LS and/or MS student, please use the LS carpool line for drop-off (Northaven). MS students may walk themselves to their designated location.
PreK students only will be dropped off and picked up in front of Nix and Kelsoe Cottage at their designated carpool time. If you have older students, you will need to drop those students off and return to drop off your PreK student at the designated time and location.
Extended Day pick-up for all students is between 3:30 - 6:00 p.m. If you need care after school, you can register for the Extended Day Program here. Once you are registered, you will receive an email with detailed instructions regarding pick up procedures.
Please keep your children seated with all body parts in the car throughout the drop-off experience. We recommend no standing up through sunroofs, and heads and arms are to remain inside the car at all times, please.
For safety reasons, all children will exit on the passenger side of the car, so please ensure car seats, as needed, are arranged accordingly. No exceptions.
Please, no texting or talking on the phone when in the carpool line.
Please watch your speed when entering campus. Small children are very hard to see and can quickly dart out from between cars. The safety of all children is our number one priority.
If you are picking up 3rd or 4th grade students, please stay to the far right so that younger student pick-ups can pass on the left.
We will, quite often, be required to double stack cars in order to prevent back-up on Midway Road. We know this can seem confusing and recognize it is a tight fit, so please be patient as our staff provides direction to move you through this process as efficiently and safely as possible. We will ask you to merge back into a single line as you round the first bend just north of the church.
Please do not park in the right lane in front of the church during carpool hours. The right lane is for carpooling, and the left lane is for church parking only.
Please be neighborly. When there is stacking on Midway or Northaven, do not block any street or alley access that is utilized by our friends and neighbors.
When you see our police officers, please thank them for their amazing service to us each and every day. We are very grateful for the gifts of their time and talent in rain, snow, or heat. They truly are a blessing to our community.

Building Entry and Exits:

Also due to COVID-19, there are some new instructions and added procedures for entering and exiting buildings while our students are on campus.

Cottage:

Entry and exit for students in the Cottage will be through the doors in each classroom.

Nix:

Entry and exit for students through the Nix front door.

Lower School:

Students will enter lower school through the doors by Mr. Martin’s office, using the Common’s area stairs to reach the second floor. Exiting will be through the CCL, using the lower school south stairs to exit.

Middle School/CCL:

Students will enter Middle school through the west doors by Ms. Rolke’s office, using the west stairs to reach the second floor of middle school and CCL.

To exit, if the students are on the second floor of the middle school building, exiting will be down the east stairs and out the CCL front doors. Students on the first floor will exit the building through the CCL. Students in CCL classrooms will exit the building via the south lower school stairs and then out the CCL front doors.

Kincaid Carpool:

Kindergarten, Primer, 1st - 2nd Grade - Students will enter and exit through the east Kincaid door, using the Kincaid hallway to enter/exit Kincaid.
3rd and 4th Grade - Students will enter and exit through the west Kincaid door, using the Romeo and Juliet stairs to enter/exit Kincaid.

Recess:

Playground - students will exit out the CCL north doors and enter through the CCL butterfly garden doors.
Courtyard - lower school students will exit out the CCL front doors and enter through the doors by Mr. Martin’s office. Middle school students will exit out the CCL front doors and enter through the doors by Ms.Rolke's office.

Your patience and cooperation helps us keep our campus safe.

We are so happy to have everyone back!

Melinda Madurai Whitney West

CFO/COO Director of Enrichment