To Our Deer Path Middle School Parents, Guardians, and Other Drivers:

I am writing today about the safety of our student pick-up and drop-off process, and our role as a good neighbor. Our AM/PM cohorts have created new traffic challenges for us. We need to be even more vigilant about adhering to our traffic protocols in an effort to keep our students safe. 

With this in mind, please note the following:

Hastings Road Traffic Patterns
During the majority of the day, Hastings Road is a two-lane road with one lane flowing west and one lane flowing east. During DPM AM and PM pick-up, the City kindly allows DPM drivers to create two lanes as they move west, approaching the DPM parking lot. As a reminder, those two lanes must not be formed until AFTER passing both east and west Lake Forest Rec Center driveways. Our traffic is blocking all traffic in and out of the Rec Center, which is not only inconvenient, but very dangerous.
 
Use of the Rec Center Parking Lot
Many parents and guardians are leaving the pick-up line and using the Rec Center parking lot as a meeting point for their children. The children are walking from the school, usually through the lines of cars into our crowded lot, and dodging between and around parked cars to meet their parents. Many DPM drivers are using the Rec Center’s “No Parking” areas, parking in the fire lanes, and even double parking down the middle of the Rec Center’s north parking lot. All of this causes significant problems for Rec Center guests who are parked in the lot and need to leave at this time. It is also extremely dangerous for all. We ask that DPM drivers not use the Rec Center as a meeting point. DPM drivers please remain in the westbound pick-up lines and retrieve your students at the school.
 
Overlapping DPM and Preschool Pick-up and Drop-Off Schedules
The Rec Center preschool has pick up at 11:30 a.m. and drop off at 12:30 p.m. These are the same times as our AM/PM cohort traffic patterns. It is extremely problematic when drivers cannot access the Rec Center parking lot or preschool drop-off areas. When DPM drivers create two lanes AFTER the Rec Center driveways and only park in legal parking spaces, this problem will be fixed.  
 
Traffic Speed
The speed at which the parents are driving on Hastings Road and approaching the Rec Center and DPM parking lots is simply too fast. For the safety of all, PLEASE SLOW DOWN.
 
These issues threaten the safety of our children and other members of the community - and they are within our control. We are grateful to the City of Lake Forest for allowing us to alter the traffic pattern on Hastings Road during high-volume times. We also need to do our part to be good neighbors to employees and guests at the Rec Center by adhering to established traffic patterns, parking legally, talking to our children about parking lot safety, and complying with all posted signage. In addition, Deer Path Safety Ambassadors may be outside helping direct traffic with a focus on student safety. Please comply with requests from Safety Ambassadors when they are managing traffic flow.

As always, please feel free to contact me with questions or concerns.

Thank you,

Principal