Providing a safe and secure learning environment for students is of paramount importance in the Olathe Public Schools. The district has numerous practices, procedures and protocols in place each day to ensure a safe learning environment. Please remember that District policy requires us to ask for ID from EVERYONE each time they enter the building. Please remember to have your driver's license or other form of picture ID ready for the camera at the door when you arrive at Tomahawk.

Please follow the guidelines in order to keep everyone safe during drop off.

• No parking on the street and walking students in
• No parking in the parking lot and walking students in
• Please do not pull out of car line to go around
• No turning into the parking lot from the south side traveling north
• From 8:35-8:50 a.m. students will enter through the South parking lot gym doors
• After 8:50 a.m. students will enter through the main front doors

We want to thank everyone for their patience and flexibility at dismissal time. The first couple of weeks are the “retraining” time for our returning families and the “learning” time for our new Tomahawk families. Many of our families are catching on to the idea of coming to Tomahawk between 3:55-4:05 p.m. and moving in line for about 10 minutes. Here are a few tips to make dismissal time move faster:

• Have your dismissal card number prominently displayed in your car window.
• Practice your dismissal number with your children and remind them that siblings should sit together in the gym.
• If the regular pickup routine might change due to weather or other circumstances, discuss with your child before school if they will be a car rider/ walker/bus rider on the way home. If you need to change your child’s way of getting home and contact your child during the school day, please call the office by 2:30 p.m. This will give us ample time to notify your student and teacher.
• Approach from the north side of Brougham to get into line. Coming from the south means you have to cut in line and hold up traffic behind you.
• Stay to the right lane for pick-up and drop off. The left lane is for buses and those who want to park in a parking spot.
• Follow signs and directions of dismissal staff.

We appreciate all your efforts to keep all Tomahawk students safe and to make this a Careful and Rapid Dismissal System!

Thanks to all of our Tomahawk families for helping to get the Arrival and Dismissal Processes running smoothly. As the weather gets colder, our car traffic increases. Here are a few reminders to keep our systems operating efficiently:

• Doors do not open until 8:35 a.m., so please help your child determine the best time to leave home so they arrive at school between 8:35-8:45 a.m.
• Students need to be in their classroom by 8:55 a.m. to avoid being tardy. If your child wants to eat breakfast, make arrangements to have them at school by 8:40 a.m. so the child has time to eat.
• To help quickly move your child from your car in the morning, prepare your child to have their backpack and all other school items ready to go before you drive up to the green zone.
• If your child’s normal way of getting home changes, please call the office at 913-780-7690 before 2:30 p.m. so we can get a message to them. Making a “bad weather” (rain, snow) pick-up plan with your child will help them know whether to walk home or wait in the gym for a car ride home. Communicating that plan with your child’s teacher through a note or email (thattendance@olatheschools.org) is recommended.
• When getting into the car line to pick up your child, please be careful not to block driveways along the street.
• It has been observed that traffic sometimes gets clogged around the circle drive exit, especially for those turning south on Brougham toward the four-way stop. We recommend that cars avoid stopping and/or standing along the curb between the circle drive exit and the stop sign at Brougham and 139th Street.

Patience and planning ahead are the keys to providing a safe and speedy arrival and dismissal for our precious students.

Arrival 8:35-8:50 a.m.

Students need to stay in cars with parents until 8:35 a.m. Cars will line up in the five drop-off spaces at the SOUTHEAST corner of the building and enter through the south gym door. As soon as you enter the green zone your children can get out of the car. Staff will be available to assist those who need help getting out of the car. Students will be considered tardy if not in their classroom by 8:55 a.m.

Dismissal 3:55 p.m.

Cars will line up/wait at the RED LINE in front of the crosswalk by the main doors. At 3:50 p.m., a staff member will release cars to move into the five GREEN pick-up spaces at the SOUTHEAST corner of the building. Have Dismissal # Card displayed on your rear view mirror or the passenger side of your car. Once your car enters one of the five pick-up spaces, your child/children will come out of the south gym doors and enter the car. 

Parents will not be able to pick up students from the gym. There is NO PICK-UP or DROP-OFF FROM PARKING LOTS.

Walkers depart from three locations in the building - out the kindergarten hallway exterior door to head south, out the recess door to head west through the playground, or out the north door to depart at the north crosswalk areas.

Students should go directly home to check in. Please do not let your child play at or near the circle drive during dismissal.