Drop Off & Pick Up

Morning Carline

Carline will begin at 7:42 a.m. for all students. There will be three different drop-off places available each morning. 

• The front of the building (north side of the building)
• The middle school entrance (east side of the building)
• Walk-up (south side of the building) 

• If you are utilizing walk-up in the morning, you must park in the Plum Creek Church parking lot and walk your student onto school property. Students cannot safely navigate a busy parking lot without adult supervision. While there are crossing guards on WCA property, there are no staff members assigned to supervise the Plum Creek Church parking lot. Thank you for your cooperation.

Families will be directed into the shortest line. If you require a specific location due to car seats or medical conditions (the front of the building allows students to exit vehicles on the passenger’s side, and the middle school entrance allows students to exit on the driver’s side), please complete the Carline Special Request Form.

Class begins at 8:00 a.m. Students not in their classrooms at 8:00 a.m. will be counted tardy. In order to ensure students are in their classrooms ready to learn at 8:00 a.m., please arrive no later than 7:55 a.m. 

Please note, supervisory staff will come into the building promptly at 8:00 a.m. Many of the staff doing morning carline duty have classes that begin shortly after 8:00 a.m. and need to be prepared for their lessons. They cannot wait outside for tardy students. If you arrive after 8:00 a.m. and you do not see teachers on the curb to greet your student, you MUST park, walk your student into the school, and sign them in at the front desk. If you arrive late and do not walk your student into the building, your student will be marked unexcused tardy, and you will receive a call from the school. 

Afternoon Carline

Drive Up Carline

The parking lot will open for dismissal promptly at 3:20 p.m. Do not arrive early.  Cars may queue in the school parking lot, but will not be permitted to idle, stand, sit, or park on Perry Street while waiting for carline to begin. If you arrive before 3:20 p.m., park at Plum Creek Church.  Do not park on Perry, the businesses to the north of the school, or the Frontage road.

To help mitigate traffic back-up on the frontage road, WCA is doing a staggered dismissal. A staggered dismissal will spread out the number of cars arriving at the school for pick-up over two times rather than one single time. Families have been assigned into two groups: 

• Paws Dismissal - 3:30-3:40 p.m. 
• Whiskers Dismissal - 3:40-3:50 p.m. 
• Paws AND Whiskers Dismissal - 3:50 p.m.

Families can identify their group assignment by looking at their carline card. Families assigned to the paws group will have a cougar paw 🐾 in the left-hand corner of their carline card. Families assigned to the whiskers group will have a our mascot symbol in the left hand corner of their carline card.

Arrive only during your scheduled time. Only Paws will be permitted into the parking lot 3:30-3:40 p.m. Only Whiskers will be permitted into the parking lot 3:40-3:50 p.m. If you are carpooling with a family who has a different group assignment you may pick-up at either time. Staff will verify that at least one of the cards displayed matches the current dismissal grouping. 

All cars, regardless of whether they are assigned to the Paw or Whisker group, will be allowed in the parking lot at 3:50 p.m.  Parents are considered late after 3:50.

We are required by the Town of Castle Rock, to implement a solution that keeps cars from backing up on the frontage road. As a result, pick-up times in carline will be strictly enforced and no exceptions can be made. Please only arrive during your designated time, and do not put our staff in the awkward position of refusing your request to enter. Allowing cars to enter outside of their assigned time will disrupt the staggered pick-up and nullify the benefit of spreading out pick-up times. It is our hope that this system will improve efficiency, reduce wait time, and effectively respond to the city’s requirement to keep traffic backups off the frontage road.

Walk-Up Dismissal

Families are welcome to pick-up their student at walk-up dismissal anytime between 3:30-3:50 p.m. regardless of whether they are designated as a Paw or a Whisker. Families who have time-sensitive commitments after school are strongly encouraged to use walk-up. 

Traffic Flow Change (both morning and afternoon)

Please note that from 7:40-8:00 a.m. and from 3:30-4:00 p.m. there is a rolling stop right turn only from our parking lot onto Perry Street. There will be no left hand turns out of our lot. This is ONLY during the times listed above. By designating all traffic to turn right, WCA will maintain the right of way during the busy drop off and dismissal times. 

Prompt Arrival

Please abide by the ten minute window designated for your pick-up group. At 3:50 p.m., teachers will be asked to walk all remaining students to the front for pick-up. If a student's ride is not waiting when the teacher and student arrive at the front or at 3:50 p.m.--whichever is later--the student will be asked to call home and the student is considered left late at school. This is embarrassing for most students. 

Late Pick-Ups

All parents are asked to enroll their student in Explorer’s Club BASE program as a precaution to ensure appropriate childcare in the event of an unexpected emergency causing a parent to be late to pick up their child. 

• As a courtesy, parents will be able to use Explorer’s Club twice during the year without paying the annual registration fee of $45 (parents will still be charged the daily drop in rate of $17 for care. )
• Students not picked up by 3:50 p.m. or the conclusion of carline (whichever is later) will call parents. 
• Students remaining at school due to a late pick-up will be supervised by Explorer’s Club (WCA BASE Program staff).
• Parents will be charged a drop in rate. 
• Some days WCA Explorer’s Club is at capacity and cannot accommodate drop in students.
• At the third late pick-up parents will be asked to pay the registration fee for Explorer’s Club and to meet with administration to create a pick-up plan.

If a parent cannot be reached and/or the student is not registered for Explorer’s Club or Explorer’s Club is full, the police and child protective services will be contacted to ensure the safety of the student.

Early Pick-up

Although we discourage students from missing school, we understand that there are times when a child must be picked up early. Please communicate such plans by e-mail to your teacher as far in advance as possible to arrange any missed work. Parents must park in the parking lot and come to the front office to complete the student sign-out process. Please note that early pick-up ends at 3:10 p.m.—if you arrive after 3:10 p.m., you will need to pick your child up in the carline or at walk-up beginning at 3:30 p.m. 

With the parking lot opening to queueing at 3:20 p.m., families arriving after 3:10 p.m. for early-pick-up will not have not have adequate time for their student to be called out of class and navigate out of the parking lot. Instead, a family desiring to leave early will be blocked into the parking lot by queuing traffic and will not be able to easily or safely navigate out. 

Early pickup is intended to be used as an exception and will not be allowed on a regular basis. Routine early dismissal is disruptive to the student(s) and the entire class.