Superintendent's Start of School Bulletin #2

Dear Mustang Community:

In walking through our schools this week, it has been so heartening to see so many of our educators coming back into the buildings to set up their classrooms and prepare to welcome back the children of the Medford community.  We are so grateful to our staff for the dedication, commitment and time they devote to making students feel at home with us, so often going above and beyond the call of duty.

This is the second in a series of communications I am providing to all MPS staff and families as we prepare to open the 2022 - 2023 school year.

Today, I want to specifically call your attention to important information about how we keep our students safe during arrival and dismissal.  Each school has a specific process in which we welcome students at arrival and how we safely dismiss students at the end of each school day.  These procedures are established in partnership with public safety officials, including the Medford Police Department and the Medford Fire Department.

All parents, family members, students and visitors dropping off or picking up students at all schools are required to comply with the following instructions:

1. Drive responsibly and obey all speed limits.  Children are nearby at all times, especially during arrival and dismissal. At our request, the Medford Police Department will be strictly enforcing speed limits around our schools and in our parking lots. Drive responsibly.
2. Parking in restricted areas will be prohibited.  To prevent dangerous traffic and congestion, we have asked the Medford Police Department to tow and ticket cars that are parked in restricted areas.  This includes the blocking of driveways around schools in the time leading up to dismissal, as well as fire lanes immediately around our school buildings.  Double parking is also prohibited except in designated pick-up areas, and in those locations, the driver of the vehicle must remain in the car at all times. Parking in restricted areas will not be permitted this school year.
3. Be courteous to school and police staff, including our bus drivers and traffic supervisors.  We value the partnerships we enjoy with our bus vendors as well as with the MPD. Please help us to demonstrate the respect we have for these team members who keep our students safe by being respectful to them and following directions in and around our schools.
4. Massachusetts law requires all passengers in cars to wear seat belts.  Please make sure everyone driving on or around MPS campuses is buckled up!

In addition to these districtwide rules, please note the following school-specific updates and guidelines with respect to student arrival and dismissal:

Medford High School:

Student drop-off and pick-up will occur primarily  in the West Courtyard loop.  This is a significant change, meaning that at dismissal, parents and caretakers will generally no longer be allowed to enter into the fire lane in front of the main entrance to Medford High School. Instead, parents and caretakers picking up their students at dismissal will be directed around to the outer loop of the West Courtyard area and must remain in their cars in the designated pick-up zone. The first several days of this new traffic pattern may be challenging; we will be reviewing this new system during the first week of school and will continue to communicate any additional changes that are necessary.

Students may enter MHS starting at 7:00am at one of three points of entry, each of which will be monitored by staff: the Main Entrance, the West Courtyard Entrance and the Vocational Wing Entrance.  After 7:45am, all students and staff must enter via the main entrance.

Curtis Tufts High School:

Students may be dropped off in the parking lot/driveway area in front of the Tufts Pool entrance, but all students must enter through the front door of the building facing Main Street. Please note that traffic on Main Street is quite heavy, particularly in the morning, and students must use caution and make use of the crosswalk leading to the main entrance of the building. 

Brooks Elementary School:

Parking in the bus lane along Auburn Street is prohibited during designated times posted and will result in the towing of cars.  Also note that the Brooks School’s back driveway is a live loop, meaning there is no parking during both arrival and dismissal time.  During arrival each morning, in order to keep the traffic flowing, Brooks staff will meet the students on the passenger side of the vehicles and open the car doors for the students. Families should not enter the staff parking lot during arrival and dismissal times.

McGlynn/Andrews Campus:

Parking and idling along Freedom Way is prohibited as is entrance into the staff only parking lot located between the Andrews Middle School and the McGlynn School. Parents and caretakers who want to meet their child at the entrance of the McGlynn building should park in the parking lot behind Hormel Stadium.  Parents and caretakers who wish to remain in their cars may continue to line up in the designated area of the outer lot located between the McGlynn School and Hormel Stadium. In this area, idling cars may double park provided that the driver remains in the vehicle at all times. Again, please use caution in departing the parking lot due to a high number of students and families who will be walking in order to reach the parking lot located on the other side of Hormel Stadium.

Missituk Elementary School:

Students will continue to be picked up via double parked cars on E. Albion Street, and the intersection of Hicks Ave and Willis Street will be restricted during dismissal. Students using the car loop on E.Albion should wait in their car until Missituk staff supervision is present to support the child leaving and entering the car.

Roberts Elementary School:

Cars must not be left unattended on Court Street and parents and caretakers should not enter the staff parking lot when picking up students at dismissal. The intersection of Park Street and Tainter Street will continue to be blocked off prior to dismissal time in order to allow buses and cars of parents and caretakers to depart the Roberts area efficiently. Again, a reminder that driveways of community members living in the neighborhoods of our schools must not be blocked in the time leading up to and during dismissal from school.

Principals will be sending out additional information to make sure your family and our staff have everything they need to arrive and depart school safely.  Once again, a reminder that students in grades 1-12 will begin school on Wednesday, August 31st and Kindergarten students will begin school on Wednesday, September 7th.  Dismissal time on Wednesdays, including August 31st and September 7th, for all elementary students, is 1:30pm.  For all other days of the week, dismissal of elementary students will be at 2:35pm.

Additional information related to transportation:

As noted in the mayor’s letter last week, the MBTA’s temporary shutdown of the Orange Line is likely to result in an increase of traffic in and around Medford. For that reason, we strongly encourage staff and families to plan ahead in order to arrive at school on time.

All families should have received an email regarding registering for a bus stop.  If your child is eligible for transportation and you have not already registered for a bus stop, please do so by 6:00pm on Thursday, August 25th. MHS students living beyond two miles from Medford High School will again be eligible for a free MBTA pass through a grant-funded program. Those MBTA passes will be available for sale starting on Thursday, September 1, 2022 in the MHS lobby.  Please contact transportation@medford.k12.ma.us if you have any questions concerning transportation.

In the coming days, both your school principal and I will have additional information to share with you as we get ready for the new school year.  You can also obtain information through our district’s new and improved website, which I encourage you to explore at your convenience.

Thank you for your time and your shared commitment to keeping our students safe throughout this school year.

Yours in Partnership for Children,

Dr. Marice Edouard-Vincent, Superintendent