Dear FFCS Families:
We are excited to welcome all of our students back to school on Wednesday, September 6. Our favorite day of the year is seeing our students on the first day of school walking off the buses and getting out of their cars with a look of excitement and wonder on their faces. The start of the school year is filled with new memories, reuniting with friends and endless possibilities.
It has been a very busy summer around campus. We have lots to share and here are a few areas that we wish to highlight with our families/caregivers:
- Capital Project Review: Our capital project work in the middle and high school has bolstered our electrical and plumbing infrastructure. Students will see complete bathroom remodels and upgrades. Also, our main hs/ms parking lot has undergone a complete redesign that was engineered from a safety study completed last fall.
- HS/MS Main Parking Lot – Drop-Off: The parking lot has a new traffic pattern that will allow for a smoother flow of traffic throughout the two-lane drop-off loop that wraps all the way to the end of the parking lot. As you enter from the road, the first left turn is for student and staff parking only. Vehicles dropping off students will be directed down the center lane to be able to take a left turn into the dropoff loop or visitors parking lot. Once in the drop-off loop you will be directed to drive up as far as possible in the loop to park and drop-off your child(ren) on the sidewalk side only. Students MUST NOT exit the left side of the vehicle. The left lane in the drop-off loop will allow cars to pull out and exit once students are dropped off and not wait in line. The visitors lot will also serve as a mini drop-off loop if the main drop-off area is congested. Vehicles arriving early should park in this lot and not in the drop-off loop. A reminder doors open at 7:45 and if students are dropped off early they will be waiting outside of the school until doors open. Cars arriving well before 7:45 should park in the visitors lot and not in the drop-off loop. All vehicles exiting the visitors lot must turn right and follow the arrows to exit.
- HS/MS Main Parking Lot – Pick-Up: The visitors’ lot has expanded to 44 spots and will hold twice as many vehicles for student pick-up. The drop-off loop will also be a place for cars to park for pick-up. Vehicles will not be allowed to park in the left lane of the loop or on the side of the road along the tennis courts and beyond.
We still have a few things to install before everything is complete. These include box rails, parking bumpers, a handrail along the sidewalk adjacent to the bus loop, and a new FFCS electronic message sign. We will have staff stationed in different areas to help guide everyone through this new drop-off and pick-up process. As with any new system, this will take some getting used to and we thank everyone in advance for their patience.
Attached is a photo and a drone video of our new parking lot. We encourage anyone who is interested to drive up before school to experience the new upgrades to our main lot.
Let’s get ready for a fun-filled year at FFCS!!