After all the chaos that went on in to the school year that was 2020-2021, students are finally ready to transition back into four day weeks of school, but a new disaster as emerged:  traffic in and out of the student parking lot. 

With over 1000 students back in the building daily  nd almost half of the allotted parking lot spaces taken away due to construction, each day has been a challenge in patience.  Students are regularly complaining that there are not enough spaces for all the students to park.  However, according to Principal Mr. Jeff Cranson he, “does not anticipate the lot getting too full.”

Campus monitor Ms. Roni Melton, said if the lot were to reach its capacity she thinks, “students would have to park over in the church parking lot, since the teacher parking lot is already full because the construction and staff already have a hard time finding places to park.” 

Even before construction, traffic has always been an issue.  Congestion at the light near 35th Ave, parking in the snow, and leaving quickly for lunch were typical problems faced by student drivers.  This year’s problems are not going away anytime soon, as the new parking lot will not be finished until the new building officially opens in August of 2022. 

To alieve some of the congestion and frustration, Cranson recommends to, “come a few minutes early, arrive at 7:45, you’ll miss traffic and get a free breakfast.”

He also recommends taking right turns because, “most of our traffic backups come from left hand turns.” 

The freshman parents are still new to the traffic in the mornings due to hybrid learning but administration hopes the drop off lines move smoothly and consistently. Parents will continue to drop off students in both the north and south parking lot as the school year continues.

Cranson said safety is his biggest concern.  “We have three parking attendants in the north and two in the south parking lots in order to help keep traffic moving in and out of the parking lot.”

Metlon, who is helping student drop off lines move quicker, said she’s, “hoping parents continue to just drop and go in order to make things a lot smoother.”

She also mentioned that parents can help this by, “avoiding stops to talk to the students, if they could just drop them off and go it would be so much easier for everybody.”