Update: drop off and pick up at PHES

The following is an important safety message from Principal Corniel:

I’m writing to let you know about an important issue here at our school. Morning arrival and afternoon dismissal are two important times of the day when we work to ensure student safety. Prior to the holiday break, there were several instances of traffic being blocked for prolonged periods of time and that created safety issues around the school.  This letter is intended to be a review of our building protocol and expectations for safely dropping off students and picking them up at the beginning of the day and in the afternoon.

If you are dropping off a student, you must not block the bus loop in the front of the school on N. Allen Street. It is also imperative that vehicles do not block traffic on either N. Allen or Hudson Avenue. There is typically parking on Hudson so it’s possible you can pull to the side in order to drop off students. No car, however, should block Hudson Avenue to through traffic. Families should only use open parking spaces on N. Allen and Hudson to drop off students.

I am asking that all families who opt to drop off and pick up adhere to the guidelines above. It is up to each of us to maintain the safety around school grounds with vehicle traffic. We will frequently have representatives from the City of Albany’s parking enforcement department as well as Albany Police officers onsite to support traffic management.

Please feel free to reach out to me directly with concerns related to the traffic pattern or safety concerns regarding students. We are actively working to address the concerns that have been voiced by our school community and want to ensure that arrival and drop off are as smooth as possible each day.