Thomas Jefferson Elementary to re-route pickups to administration center

Thomas Jefferson Elementary School will be closing its north driveway starting April 15, and as a result parents and guardians will have to pick up their kids at the E.J.H. Beard Administration Center when school is out. Students typically picked up at the elementary will now be bussed to the administration center.

Newton Superintendent Tom Messinger and Thomas Jefferson Elementary Principal Jolene Comer unveiled the proposed re-route, which has parents use the easternmost entrance along First Avenue West and drive in a loop around the admin office to a loading zone on the western side of the building.

Why does the elementary school traffic need to be relocated? Messinger said it is to allow crews to rework the current driveway at Thomas Jefferson, which is scheduled for a new addition and renovation as part of the district’s elementary school configuration. The re-route will last through the end of the year.

“For us to keep that building open and use it for the school — both this year and next year — there’s parts of the project that have to be phased in,” Messinger said. “And that phasing includes the restructuring of the drive on the north side, which would need to begin before school gets out.”

The school district wanted to make sure it was providing the safest possibility for students and parents. Messinger said the district did not want to make the re-route overly burdensome on traffic flow and accessibility to the building. Although it is an inconvenience, he said this solution should meet the needs of parents.

According to the school district’s graphic of the re-route, all drop-offs to Thomas Jefferson will remain unchanged. Doors open at 7:25 a.m. and all traffic comes through the front drive. The first bell rings at 7:40 a.m. and the tardy bell rings at 7:50 a.m. Only pickups will be affected by the re-route.

“For our morning drop-off we will continue to use the front circle drive,” Comer said. “Our morning drop-off goes pretty slick most of the time. So it’s pretty easy flowing. We think our buses can just drive in to traffic, they’ll pull all the way up to the drive as far as possible and drop kids off and continue out the exit.”

However, pickup traffic has a tendency to overcrowd the streets to Thomas Jefferson Elementary and can even spill over onto First Avenue, which can already prove challenging for buses. Comer suggested redirecting traffic to the administration center makes sense while crews work on the elementary.

Students who are picked up after school will be transported by bus to the administration center. Each grade will have its own designated bus. The regular bus riders get on their typical bus at Thomas Jefferson, pick up at Berg Middle School and continue on the usual route.

“We’ll have all buses come to TJ at 2:45 p.m. They’ll be lined up the same every day in our circle drive. We’ll dismiss students a little bit before 3 p.m. and we’ll go out by grade level,” Comer said. “…Teachers will make sure the regular bus students get on their regular bus route number.”

The remaining students in that particular grade level will board a bus with other students of that grade level. So only kindergartners with ride with kindergartners.

“Those five buses that will have students getting picked up by families will be transported over here,” Comer said. “…They’ll drop those students and staff members over at the front of the building and then wait either in this front hallway if there is bad weather, if not we’ll just go under the awning in the front.”

If families want to pick up their child early from Thomas Jefferson, Comer suggested they do it before 2:45 p.m. or else they will have to pick up their child at the administration center after 3 p.m. Comer said staff do not want to be looking for kids and holding up buses. There are also no changes to preschool.