Dear NCA families,
We are on day 10 of the school year, and everyone is settling into our routines. I've enjoyed the past two weeks of crowded hallways, studious classrooms, and lively eating areas and playgrounds. After a long summer with facilities projects, planning for the coming year, and all the related business that we undertake on an empty campus, it can start to feel lonely in the building. It puts a smile on my face to see the daily rhythm of the students waving goodbye to parents, spending the day with their teachers and friends, and climbing back into cars in the afternoon to share the adventures of the day with their families.
The beginning of school also means the return of the beloved carline! Thank you for your patience in these first two weeks. This is our last year of adding an entire grade to the school. Afternoon carline at the beginning of the year is always slower than normal as new students, parents, and teachers learn the routine. Also, once all sports, clubs, and fine arts activities are active, fewer students will leave immediately after school, resulting in a shorter carline.
We have been collecting data every day since the first day of school. We consider factors such as the number of cars at each door, carline end time, the overflow onto Hwy 41, and the amount of time a car spends on campus. I want to share some of that data with you.
The chart below shows typical wait times between arriving on campus and picking up children at the door.
By 3:20-3:25 p.m., the wait time is essentially the time it takes for the student to walk from their classroom to the door.
As can be seen in the table above, wait times are significantly longer for cars that arrive early. While it might seem counterintuitive, arriving after carline has started will result in a shorter wait. For example, cars arriving at 2:45 p.m. might pick up students at 3:05 p.m. while cars that pull onto campus at 3:00 p.m. might pick up students at 3:08 p.m. These times are approximate, of course, but the trend is clear: once the initial congestion eases and carline begins moving, wait times decrease.
Here are some other interesting numbers:
With the police officer present, the time from picking up children to exiting campus is approximately 1 minute.
By the end of the first full week of school, we were hitting our target end time of 3:25 p.m.. (Down from 3:45 p.m. on the first day of school.)
An average of 350-360 cars come through carline each day. At 2:45 p.m., 10 minutes before the end of school, approximately 150 cars are already on campus waiting in carline. That means that 43% of cars have arrived at least 10 minutes before the end of school. At this point in time, the carline begins backing up onto Hwy 41, creating traffic congestion and a potentially hazardous situation.
Therefore, based on the wait time data above and the overflow onto Hwy 41, we encourage families not to arrive before 2:45 p.m. I want to be mindful of the safety of both our families and others in the local community. I also don’t want to see our parents waiting needlessly since the carline moves so efficiently only a few minutes later.
We have also made internal adjustments in the past week to ease the congestion and decrease wait times. We began moving the carline barrier earlier to allow more cars onto campus and off Hwy 41. This change has helped ease the overflow onto the highway. We also adjusted the number of cars we fill at one time, particularly at the front door where the younger children take longer to load. We will continue to collect data and make adjustments as necessary, and we hope you will help us make carline as safe, efficient, and low-stress as possible.
As always, thank you for partnering with us. I hope your students enjoyed our Red, White, and Blue day yesterday as all three volleyball teams (varsity, junior varsity, and middle school) won their matches. Go Spartans!
If you’re new to NCA, don’t forget to join us for our New Family Parent Reception this Thursday!
Sincerely,
Matthew Reger
Head of School
