First day of school drop-off and pick-up efficiency

Long lines to drop off and pick children up on the first day of school Wednesday, but some parents in Cape Coral said it went better than expected.

The first day of school can be a stressful experience for students, parents, and teachers. Some parents decided to park near schools to avoid long lines. However, others had to exercise their patience seeing as it took an hour for lines to clear up Wednesday morning.

Car after car lined up to drop off their kids for the first day of school Wednesday morning. At Diplomat Elementary in Cape Coral parents said they expected traffic so they opted to walk.

“I have three kids,” said Kaat Cromvet, a parent of a student at Diplomat Elementary. “Obviously, there’s a lot of cars around. So yeah, it’s better. And I wanted to drop them off myself in the class.”

Others were pleasantly surprised by how everything turned out, especially on the first day of school.

“Actually, not that long, I think like 20 minutes at the most, so it wasn’t that bad,” said Ruth Roux, a parent of a student at Diplomat Elementary.

Last year parents weren’t able to drop off their kids inside the classroom because of Covid protocols, but things have changed this year.

“It’s first grade, second grade, third grade. So it is a big change for both of them,” said Cromvet. “So we were working on that and then talking about everything because it is new for them so new friends and more like emotionally, I think preparing them.”

It’s hard to say how long into the school year the very long lines will last. But, parents will certainly strategize to make their morning drop-offs and afternoon pick-ups more efficient.