• It is very important that all of our students are engaged in a full day of learning every day. We encourage all students to arrive on time to begin learning promptly at 9:10 and remain in school until dismissal at 3:50 p.m.
  • We encourage our students to ride the bus to reduce traffic on school grounds.
  • Please park in the rear parking lot if you need to walk your student(s) into the building at arrival or to pick up your child(ren) at dismissal. All children should be accompanied by an adult for safety.
  • The Rec Connect Child Care program is provided by Williamsburg-James City County Parks & Recreation. To reach the Child Care program director, call (757) 259-5351. For students enrolled in the Parks and Recreation Rec Connect program, families should follow the Rec Connect arrival and dismissal policies.

Arrival (9:10-9:20 a.m.)

  1. Students may arrive at school starting at 9:10 a.m. Before 9:10 a.m., office and teaching staff are engaged with planning and collaboration for the school day. Families who arrive before the doors are opened are asked to wait on the front porch with their children. A staff member will open the front door at 9:10 to welcome all of our students.
  2. At 9:10 a.m., a staff member will be present in the drop off loop at the back of the building at the cafeteria entrance to help unload students who must be driven to school. Only the drop off loop at the back of the building should be used for unloading students. Please let the staff assist your child in exiting your vehicle to keep traffic flowing safely and efficiently. Please avoid walking your child directly to the Learning Cottages. After dropping off in the back, a LC student may enter door 7 and then walk through door 11 to proceed to their Learning Cottage.
  3. If you need to walk your child into the building, please park in the rear parking lot and walk your child to the drop off area or front door. Adult supervision to the building is very important in light of the heavy car traffic.
  4. Handicapped parking spaces are reserved for guests who need those spaces for accessibility.
  5. Students arriving after 9:20 a.m. must be escorted by an adult into the building through the front door and signed in by an adult in the office.
  6. Students who arrive after 9:30 a.m. are tardy.

Dismissal (3:50-4:00 p.m.)

  1. Please send a note to your child’s teacher if there is a change to your child’s dismissal routine (bus change, pick up by someone other than a parent/guardian, etc.). If a student does not have a note, he/she will be put on his/her bus.
  2. Please help us provide for the safe dismissal of our children by notifying the office no later than 3:15 p.m. of a change to your child’s dismissal.
  3. Please communicate transportation changes by sending a note with your child or calling the office (757-229-1931). Please do not send emails or leave voice messages for your child’s teacher as our teachers are engaged in instruction and often not able to access email or phone messages in the afternoon.
  4. Adults picking up students at dismissal will enter the back door (7) which will be opened at 3:45 p.m. by a staff member. Please sign out your child(ren) in the cafeteria and wait for your child to arrive from class. To expedite the process for those picking up on a daily basis, you may fill out a pick-up contract.
    All students in Learning Cottages will be picked up in the cafeteria. To insure the safe dismissal of our students,
    staff members will escort family pick up students to the cafeteria at 3:50 p.m. and released students only to authorized
    adults who were given a dismissal slip in the office.
  5. All students should be picked up by 4:00 p.m. as staff needs to return to their responsibilities to prepare for the next
    day’s instruction.

We appreciate your support and partnership to insure the safety of all children at Matthew Whaley!