Tigermom84 said:

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1000 non-driving, non-bussed kids to get home and it takes about 15min to get through the line. It's an incredible system, the best one I've experienced. Ever. Once the line starts moving, your car almost never stops until you get to the front. Any time you have a school, there will be traffic waiting prior to pickup times. if you're not willing to navigate lines of waiting cars, avoid the area from 3:30-4:30.

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Granted it has been a limited time but I have not seen that at all. I have seen major congestion backup that has been stagnant for quite some time
I am sure the line moves efficiently once it starts but the initial line is one of the worst I have ever seen. I have nothing against the charter school at all in fact we seriously looked at it but traffic flow for about an hour is non existent for the most part

I finally decided to have him walk to Creekview to pick him up. I've always gone Longmire because we live close to Longmire and deacon.

JP76 said:

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Try

Alexandria
Victoria
Eagle
Birmingham

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Gangster Octopus said:

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The gridlock problem is due to the SAHMs that have to be first in line, so they get there 45 minutes before release and wait.

I left work at 3:30, was in line at 4:00 (it was backed up down the left turn lane of Longmire), and was pulling out at 4:11. The line moved the entire time I was in it - any stoppages were more like 10 second "pauses".

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Yeah, hopefully more people will realize that getting there early just to wait in line and stack up traffic doesn't actually speed anything up. I've started arriving at 4:00 as well and it's a smooth, quick process.

They went Thurs, Fri of the week before last. This was the first full week of classes.

It sounds like the majority of drivers arrive closer to the pickup time and move through efficiently, so perhaps it will settle down as parents get used to the drive time. Or not. I suspect there isn't a whole lot one can do to sway a parent determined to camp out 30 minutes ahead of time...

On a different note, it is rather ironic that the one of the reasons nearby residents objected to proposed multifamily housing was increased traffic. At least they can be happy it is only in the afternoon.

At 3pm in the afternoon on weekdays this traffic does not affect most people who reside in the area.

Then that worked out best for them after all.

I will go with selective.

jeffk said:

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The only people I've heard from who've pulled their kids have been because their students weren't handling the dual language setup very well. (Only trying it for less than a week before bailing seemed a bit rash to me, but that's their perogative.)

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I figured the language thing might be a sticking point for some. Others may get a lot out of it. To each their own, I guess. Maybe the next charter school that opens won't have the language requirements and can use that as a selling point.

By state law they can only expel students for reasons that they have listed in their code of conduct as expelable offenses, and the ILT School Board has to make the determination that expulsion is appropriate for that student. They CANNOT dismiss a student for academic performance reasons, but a Parent can withdraw a student at any time if they think a different school is a better fit.

Gangster Octopus said:

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Three Seasons said:

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Its not only traffic - check your student's classroom numbers. I know a teacher that is up to 29 students in her classroom. Sounds like too much of a good thing.

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They still have a few teachers coming in from overseas. Once they're in place, the classroom numbers will come down. From what I've heard from the director, they want the class size to be around 20. Some classes are currently in the mid-high 20s until a switch can be made.

My kid is in a class of 26 right now. It sucks, but it's part of a completely new school that is independent from "the system". I'm hoping it'll level out by the end of September, between new teachers arriving and attrition due to behavior, transportation, etc.

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"...teachers coming in from overseas." Wait, what?

poolgirl1 said:

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I will go with selective.

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And I am sure having 26 "selective" students is better than the alternative

Anna Molly said:

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Gangster Octopus said:

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Three Seasons said:

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Its not only traffic - check your student's classroom numbers. I know a teacher that is up to 29 students in her classroom. Sounds like too much of a good thing.

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They still have a few teachers coming in from overseas. Once they're in place, the classroom numbers will come down. From what I've heard from the director, they want the class size to be around 20. Some classes are currently in the mid-high 20s until a switch can be made.

My kid is in a class of 26 right now. It sucks, but it's part of a completely new school that is independent from "the system". I'm hoping it'll level out by the end of September, between new teachers arriving and attrition due to behavior, transportation, etc.

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"...teachers coming in from overseas." Wait, what?

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Yes I know it is hard to believe but they actually acquire work visas to help with the foreign language portions of their schools. They don't just wait by the Ramen Noodles or Tortillas. They actually pursue those that understand the language but also the culture.

One of the things that is so fun about our new options. They don't just shoot for the median quality and say hey we checked the box. They try and go above and beyond yet still make things work.

To be honest not sure how they can ever plan as so many parents were just scouting. I know one mother that stated they would probably go 2 weeks and go back. Just wanted to see what it is like. I know they now aren't planning on leaving. That says a lot to me and also shows me how difficult their job would be on how many teachers to plan on having.

Once school is full at every grade things will level out. I predict that to be sooner rather than later. I will say it would be hard to be an 8th grader and make the move. Many at that age struggle to learn 1 new language. Can you imagine 2? Wish ours was a kindergartener but they aren't. We are enjoying it very much so far.

My understanding is lower grades are full and junior high is not. We figured not many would do junior high but 6th grade has a bunch. 7 and 8 has more than I would have thought. Enough to put teams together with older kids. Charter school is doing well.

I'm glad that your family has settled into their new school and off to a good start.

I expect there will be some adjustments for both charter and public on their numbers but after the charter has been in operation for awhile, there will probably be percentages that can help them get an idea on what to expect. I will be interested to see what will happen after the high school classes begin in a year. Given the current numbers, it will be small at first but as the younger groups age up, will it grow at the same rate? In other words, traditionally some of the smaller private schools here have had larger K-8 groups that dwindle at the hs level for a variety of reasons. Nothing wrong with that, and most of those schools have been able to find a niche to serve the students and families who attend, so I will be curious to see if the IL school breaks that tradition.

Edit: grammar fail

Turf96 said:

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Three Seasons said:

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Its not only traffic - check your student's classroom numbers. I know a teacher that is up to 29 students in her classroom. Sounds like too much of a good thing.

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I don't think many in the community took how serious the rezone issue had become. Not only did it upset us parents involved with incoming freshman but made many many parents with younger kids hit the breaks hard.

I was blown away at how many, outside those directly affected, viewed the whole handling of the last situation as completely wrong to the kids they are supposed to support. Telling the kids to their faces they were just a number. Writing nasty notes about speakers at board meetings. It all adds up to a larger enrollment at ILT than I think even the new school thought. They have said that most the time many sign up but don't show to new open schools. That didn't happen here and they had to scramble a bit. Some may discount the lack of trust for CSISD board at this time, but it is a real issue. If you don't believe it drive by at 3:30 like some have said.

As for lines my wife had said the process is amazing and more efficient than anything we have ever had. I hope the early moms realize this as well and slow down on getting there so early. Junior will be fine another 5 minutes.

For the behavior issues it is one of the biggest perks. Goin to ILT is a privilege not a right as I feel all schools should be. If they have a serious issue they can expell unlike our soft state run schools. Maybe one of the main reasons we wanted in. Tired of schools
Running like daycares.

So far very pleased with ILT.

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You make it out to be that expelling a student for discipline issues is a good thing. While I agree with major discipline issues being proactive with I would hate to see the public school system develop that mindset

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I tend to agree with you on most things Wicked Good. Maybe you are thinking of small infractions? It takes a serious infraction to be ousted from the charter school, or continual infractions. I am friends with someone that lived in Pebble Creek whose daughter was rezoned across town. A boy intentionally threw a sizable rock at her and busted her head wide open. Ended up needing multiple stitch's and to this day, this girl still has the scar to show for it. She continued to go to school with this young man after he busted her head open, and he continued to be a disruption to everyone and made fun of her for getting her head busted by him. At the charter school, this boy would never be accepted if that was on his record. If he did this type of thing at the charter school, he would be out. Kids are complicated, and everyone makes mistakes. I just don't believe that kids should be able to endanger and continually disrupt other kids that are there to learn. Can you imagine being this little girl and how she felt about going to school after this?

It was some time ago, not sure of the exact details of that rezone. I think elementary students from pebble creek were bussed over to that george bush area elementary school and vice versa? I don't know the year, but I know it happened. My post really was not pertaining to that rezone, I was more giving an example of behavior that is unacceptable for another student to be continually subjected to. I do feel like its a privilege for our kids to attend the charter school. If our kids cannot behave up to their standard, we more than welcome the accountability. I do agree with wicked good. If they are dismissing kids for little to no reason, thats unacceptable. I have not heard or seen any of that, but this is a new world for us.

Traffic was a lot better in the mornings this week with people not being allowed to park on the street and walk their kids in. Afternoon traffic is still slow, but seems to be moving along better.

I'm showing my incredible ignorance on the subject here, so here it goes.
How in the world is there NOT a school zone there? What has to be done? I'm sure there is red tape to go through, but why hasn't it been done? Or did the city just not grant one?
With 1000 students I have a hard time believing this.
It's a public school. No reason not to have one.

I'm not even sure "public" even matters. Whoever didn't procure one (whether school, city, Trump, Obama, etc) dropped the ball badly.
Most importantly, I hope the student is better!

Edit: in rereading the original post, I see they wrote about asking for a school zone for the area. Perhaps that means there is one in immediate area. If so, please disregard my ramblings!

So the lady heading southbound was upset the parent failed to yield turning left causing an accident? I am shocked.

I live nearby, but don't have a child at the charter school. I find it appalling that the school has not come up with a better solution to their traffic problems. I emailed the principal about the issues, and the response I received was very cordial, but basically said there was nothing they could do about it and to contact the police department. There are many solutions the school could consider, such as providing transportation from another site (a park-and-ride type bus) or lengthening their driveway. The other thing that appalls me is that she said the school has 950 students, all being picked up or dropped off in cars. What is the traffic situation going to be when the school is fully enrolled with 1400 students? That's almost 50% more students than currently.

I don't think it is really fair to tell citizens to just avoid the area if you "can't handle a slight delay." If you want to go south on Longmire from the Kroger area at 3:30 pm, you are faced with the choice of waiting in the school line until the school starts to dismiss at 3:45 pm or driving in the oncoming traffic lane just south of Graham while the police officer watches you. There is no center turn lane from Graham to the school entrance that allows you to safely bypass the line of cars.

I have contacted the police department requesting that a no stopping or standing sign be installed from the corner of Graham to the school entrance, so that cars may use the street as a street instead of a parking lot from 3:30 to 3:45 on school days. I can see that a school zone would make sense as well. However, I always thought school zones were to make it safe for walkers and bicycle riders, and according to the email from the principal, all students are car riders. So I'm not sure how much traction the movement for a school zone will have.

I'm sorry you witnessed rude behavior from the woman who hit the car that failed to yield to her. But this is a problem that is only going to get much worse until the school figures out a better solution. If your child goes to the school, I implore you to push the school to do something more than they have so far. And the school and city need to consider this issue with the building of the charter high school. The way the school and nearby roads were designed would probably be fine for a typical public school with car riders, bus riders and walkers, but not for a school that only has car riders. I hope they learn from this in designing the new charter high school.

Regardless of school zone or not when I drive that road in afternoon I bet I don't go more than 10 mph but I have avoided that street for a couple of weeks now and taken alternative means. Drivers who understand what is going on probably will be proactive either with alternative routes or slowing down but if someone was turning left into the school and got hit from someone southbound that is on the driver who got hit not the southbound driver. It is an area to be avoided until a solution is in place. But I will say that the traffic backup will cause more and more accidents if changes aren't made.
I would hope people would realize it is a school and kids are in that area regardless of school zone