Phase one of an ongoing project to upgrade student pick-up/drop-off and parking at Chapman School in Anchor Point was completed and implemented this week.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly approved the purchase of more than 6 acres of land adjacent to the existing Chapman School campus last November in order to address increased growth and overcrowding at the school as well as longtime safety concerns with the previous student pick-up and drop-off routine. The project is funded by the 2022 school improvement bond.

Chapman Principal Heidi Stokes explained the new traffic route and pick-up/drop-off routines in a video she created and posted on her YouTube channel on Sunday, Aug. 24, in advance of the new practice going into effect Monday afternoon. The new route is intended to increase student safety by keeping off the highway families waiting to drop off or collect their kids, and should help lessen congestion at the intersection between the Sterling Highway, Old Sterling Highway and School Street.

“We’re really excited that it’s ready for our first full week of school, and we appreciate all the hard work and dedication that’s gone into making this happen,” she said.

Previously, parents and school buses picking up and dropping off students would turn directly from the Sterling Highway into the front parking lot at the school. While buses will continue to operate in the front parking lot, parents will now use a pick-up/drop-off loop located behind the school. Access to the loop is located at an existing driveway between the Anchor Point Chamber of Commerce building and the Alaska State Troopers station, just 500 feet north of the school.

A parking lot will eventually be included in the rear lot, but is still under construction. Parking is currently not permitted in the new pick-up/drop-off area.

Stokes also said students who walk home from school will be released through the front entrance until the new property is fully prepped for pedestrian traffic. In the video, she asked drivers to remain aware of students on the sidewalk along the Sterling Highway and to practice caution as they enter and exit the new route.

Additionally, as construction remains ongoing outside of regular pick-up/drop-off times, students arriving to school after 8 a.m. or being picked up prior to the end of the school day must be dropped off and picked up at the front entrance. Visitors should also park in front of the school and use the building’s main entrance.

Stokes also demonstrated the new route in her video and explained in detail the routine that parents and students should expect going forward.

“We appreciate your patience as we fine-tune this process,” she said. “As we all become more familiar with this process, I’m sure that it will be even more efficient than the process that we used to use.”

Find the full video, “Introducing Chapman’s Updated Drop off and Pick Up,” on the Chapman School Facebook page.