Driving Plan

The Churchill Alternative School has a large cachement area: students come from some distance. This requires  that many be bused, and that others be dropped by car.

In the past, this has meant that there was a very large number of near misses between cars, buses, and children. As the street got more and more dangerous, parents felt it necessary to approach closer and closer to the school to do drop offs, and this resulted in the street getting more and more dangerous.  It got to the point where teachers who had previously tried to supervise arrival and departure on their own initiative decided that it was too much, and the Active and Safe Routes to School committee was formed. 

Starting in 2007 a Safe Driving and Drop-Off was produced. The essence of this plan is to streamline the flow of traffic to make it safe for all students to arrive to school safely. Every student walks to school: some of them from their houses, some of them from where they are dropped off, and some only a short distance from the bus.   

Safe Driving & Drop-Off Plan

We have adopted this plan as a Churchill community to ensure greater safety for all children and a more walking-friendly environment around our school. CASC and school administration have been working successfully with the City to calm traffic flow and improve safety around the school. Your cooperation in adhering to our plan is greatly appreciated.

1. Try to park a block from the school and walk the rest of the way.
2. the south side of the school, on Ravenhill, is for buses only. The city has erected turn restriction signs.
3. drop-off may be done on the east side of the school, on Churchill, or on Edison or Melbourne.  Parents should stop and walk their children to the school, or if they are old enough, allow them to walk on their own.
4. motorists should travel north on Edison, west (left) on Ravenhill, and south on Melbourne.  While the streets are two way, children walking do need cars coming at them from two directions (there are few sidewalks), nor do they need cars making U-turns blocking traffic.
5. stopping in the intersections or in front of the staff parking lot is unsafe and illegal.

6. in addition to the above, you can drop off on Roosevelt and use the stairs between lower and upper Ravenhill.

In 2010, as a result of a site survey done as part of the School Travel Planning project, some no-stopping and no-parking changes were made: the south side of Ravenhill, west of Edison is now a no-stopping zone.  The no-parking zone was extended past the staff parking lot to provide for a bit more room for children walking, and to prevent parked cars from blocking the resident's driveways.

Also very important:

• Respect all no parking, no stopping and no turning signs. These are there for our children’s safety and are enforced by police and city bylaw officers.

• The school parking lot is for staff only and should not be used for dropping off or picking up students.