Arrival, Dismissal, and Carpool

Lower School Arrival and Dismissal Times

Please note the regular Lower School hours for 2025–2026, which are listed below. During both morning and afternoon carpool, drivers may not walk their students in to school or walk up to the school building to pick them up, but must stay in their cars.

Lower School classes begin:               8:00 a.m.

The Lower School Building opens at 7:40 a.m. Students should wait quietly in the hall
until announcements and devotions are over.

TK/K dismissal:                             1:15 p.m.

Grades 1–6 dismissal:                  2:30 p.m.

Lower School Arrival Procedures

Carpool

Please use both lanes for drop-off in the morning. Stay in your lane all the way around the parking lot. All students must stay in their vehicles until 7:40 a.m. and must be careful not to step into the flow of traffic. A teacher or staff member will help students exit the vehicle. Drivers must remain in their car at all times.

Students Who Bike or Walk to School

Students not arriving by car must use the paved pedestrian and bike path along the south side of the campus, which begins at Cambridge Road at the main entrance of the campus and follows the Hope Creek neighborhood property line. All pedestrians must cross the parking lot at the designated crosswalk markings. The Lower School Building opens for students at 7:40 a.m.

Late Arrival or Tardy

Students must be in class by 8:00 a.m. If students arrive after 8:05 a.m., they will be marked tardy and must stop at the Lower School receptionist’s desk to check in. Students who are not in their classrooms and ready promptly at the beginning of the instructional day are considered late. Lower School students who are more than 15 minutes late for the start of the school day must follow the late arrival procedure described below.

Late arrivals fall into one of two categories: excused or unexcused.

·   Excused:  Late arrivals due to an appointment or other excused reason.

·   Unexcused:  Late arrivals with no previous notice of an appointment and no parent phone call, note, or email to the teachers and Lower School receptionist Karen Safley (karen.safley@tsdch.org) are considered unexcused.

Late Arrival Procedure

If your student arrives late to school, please walk them to the front door of the Lower School Building and use the call button to notify the Lower School receptionist of your arrival, and then walk your student into the building.

Lower School Dismissal Procedures

Please follow these guidelines when picking up your student from the carpool lane. Remember that parents may not park and walk up to the school building to meet their children.

TK and K:  Parents must use the carpool lane to pick up their students from the sidewalk in front of the Lower School. Except on early dismissal days, TK and K students are dismissed at 1:15 p.m.

Grades 1–6:  Except on early dismissal days, students will be prepared to exit their classrooms at 2:25 p.m. Students should remain in their classroom until called and display orderly behavior until they have entered their vehicle. Please understand that carpool is not the time for parent-teacher conferences.

Early dismissal days:  On early dismissal days, all Lower School students will be dismissed at 11:45 a.m. 

Lower School parents will be issued a visor tag with their student’s last name. Drivers in the carpool line must display the visor tag. We recommend attaching the tag to the visor with rubber bands. Replacement or additional visor tags may be requested from the office.

Drivers in the carpool line must stay in their vehicles and move as far forward as possible. Teachers will see students to their cars. As soon as students have entered the vehicle, drivers should pull forward to maintain traffic flow. Drivers needing to buckle in a young child should pull up and park on the right-hand side of the exit driveway, across from the basketball goals.

Changes to a student’s regular carpool arrangements must be emailed to the classroom teacher and to Kelly Lipford (kelly.lipford@tsdch.org) before 2 p.m.  Only in case of emergency should changes be called in to the office. A student’s word will not be sufficient to make last-minute carpool changes.

If a Lower School student has not been picked up by the end of carpool time, the school will call their parents and the student will wait on the porch or in the Lower School office to be picked up.

Parents or guardians who would like to stay at school with their student for outdoor playtime must continue out through the carpool line and re-enter the campus.

Leaving School Early

Parents should not take students out of class early except for emergencies or occasional, unavoidable appointments. Trinity encourages parents to schedule students’ appointments outside of school hours.

If a student needs to leave school early, their parent must send an email in advance to the student’s classroom teacher, Lower School administrative assistant Kelly Lipford, and Lower School receptionist Karen Safley indicating the reason for and time of release. Parents should follow the procedure described below for leaving school early. If a student returns to school after an appointment, parents must follow the procedure for late arrival described in the previous section.

Early Release Procedure

• Email your student’s teacher, Kelly Lipford, and Karen Safley before school starts to notify the school of your student’s early departure and the time of pick-up.

• When you arrive on campus, please park, walk up to the Lower School entrance, and ring the call bell to alert the staff to your arrival. Your student will be called from class and meet you at the Lower School reception desk.