Thank you once again for your patience during our impromptu emergency drill last Thursday. It was rewarding to see that even given the circumstances of the day, our staff, students, and parents are readily aware of the procedures that keep Lakeview students safe. Obviously, the safety of our students is of the highest importance to us and we needed to make sure all of them were accounted for before we could release students to go home. While it may have been frustrating to wait, we appreciate everyone's understanding.

As we look ahead to the 2011-2012 school year, the Lakeview faculty asks that all families help us by following the safety rules of our school in the parking lot and drive-through areas as well as in the cross walks around our school. We have formed a partnership with the Kirkland Police Department in order to create safe procedures for all Lakeview students. They have agreed to provide added coverage of our school boundaries when they are able in order to help us protect the safety of our students. We hope you join in this partnership.

The areas of safety we want to highlight in this newsletter are the Parking Lots, Drive Through Areas, and the Cross Walks. 

PARKING LOTS:

• Parents need to significantly reduce their speed as they move into the parking areas.
• While moving through the drop off/pick up line, please attend to the Student Safety Patrol member who is assisting your child in exiting or entering your vehicle. Please help the Student Patrol members to enable your child to exit or enter your car safety and expediently.

DRIVE THROUGH AREAS ON STATE AND 68th:

• Parents picking up students need to follow the drive through line in both areas.
• If you are attending a meeting, you may park your car, otherwise, you need to go through the drive through lines.

CROSS WALKS:

• ALL parents and adults need to yield to the adult crossing supervisor.
• Parents, please teach your children to "Look both ways and look once again" prior crossing a street in a cross walk.

A key message from the Kirkland Police Department is the importance of the knowledge that we are always teaching our students the crucial safety rules we hold in our community, through our modeling as important adults in their lives. The Lakeview Safety Committee invites interested community members to join this group which meets monthly to address safety concerns. We value and welcome your input. Please let me know if you would like to join us.

Our school has been very fortunate to have the caring presence of our officer, Pete Quarre, for the last 12 years. You can see Pete out patrolling our school and keeping Lakeview students safe on a regular basis. We have recently learned that Pete has decided to retire as of December 16th. Our hope is that the Lakeview families will reach out to him in appreciation for all he has done to protect our students. As a staff, we are planning to invite him to a Spirit Assembly where we can honor his many and important contributions to our school. If you would like to send him a note, please drop it by the office and we will be sure to get it to him.

This year we are planning to have designated Safety Weeks at Lakeview where concerned community members work together to remind parents to slow down, be safe, and follow our school drop-off/pick-up procedures. This is an opportunity to get involved and provide positive role modeling for students and families around these procedures to benefit student safety at Lakeview.

As a member of our school community, I welcome your feedback and input to our school safety procedures. In addition, as a school, we are always looking for parents or family members who are interested in helping to provide supervision at the student drop off and pick up lanes at Lakeview each day. Please let me know if you can help provide this support. We strongly welcome your involvement in creating a safer environment for the students who attend Lakeview Elementary School! 

Warm Regards,

Shawna