The Republic School District is proud to celebrate the completion of a new queuing road near Sweeny and Lyon Elementary schools. The queuing road will alleviate traffic congestion on main roads near the buildings and allow for smooth drop-offs and pick-ups for families. The finished project is a result of a partnership between the City of Republic and a private business, Hamilton Corporation.
Sweeny and Lyon Elementary schools are located near Highway 174 and Main Avenue in Republic. During drop-off and pick-up times, there has previously been a significant amount of traffic congestion in and around the intersection, which caused safety concerns. In the 2022-2023 school year, Republic Schools implemented staggered start and dismissal times for both buildings as a short-term approach to smoothing traffic flow for families and community members. While the schedule change did significantly cut down on the congestion, the district has now partnered with the City of Republic and Hamilton Corporation for a long-term solution to alleviate back-ups near the schools. Now completed and ready for the first day of school (August 21), the new queuing road adds more than 2,700 feet of staging space for each school’s car line.
Families for both Sweeny and Lyon will enter the driveway north of Sweeny on North Main Avenue. Sweeny vehicles should stay in the right lane, while Lyon vehicles should stay in the left lane. Continue to follow the signs on the road itself for directions. After coming to a complete stop at the end of the queuing road, when the road is clear, both Sweeny and Lyon vehicles will turn left, then follow the route to their building’s drop-off and pick-up location. Sweeny vehicles may then exit onto Highway 174 or onto Main Avenue. Lyon vehicles will wind back around and will have the option of turning left or right onto Main Avenue. Please see the map below.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when picking up or dropping off students for school:
- Only let students out of your car in the designated drop-off sections of the traffic route.
- Be aware of potential pedestrian students along the traffic route.
- Please follow the arrows on the maps.
- Deviating from the provided traffic route can be a potential safety hazard for pedestrian students, and can cause other drivers frustration.
- Do not park along the traffic route at any time.
- Be courteous of other drivers.
- When picking up, please do not arrive more than 15 minutes prior to dismissal as that creates traffic congestion and safety concerns for our students and staff. Emergency vehicles must be able to access our driveways and parking lots during the entire school day in the event of an emergency.
- From the time of dismissal, it will only take 15-20 minutes for every child to be picked up.
Please have patience during the first few weeks of school as staff and other families get adjusted to the new traffic map.
With this new queuing road, school-related traffic will be pulled off the main roads, and both buildings will return to starting and ending each school day at the same time as the other elementary buildings in the district. Dismissal times will be adjusted, as the district is adding 10 minutes to the end of each school day to allow for more calendar flexibility.
For the upcoming school year, Monday through Thursday school hours will be the following:
- EC: Class times vary, please refer to communication from EC regarding your student's schedule.
- Lyon, McCulloch, Price, Schofield and Sweeny: 8:30 a.m. to 3:40 p.m.
- RMS: 7:40 a.m. to 2:50 p.m.
- RHS: 7:30 a.m. to 2:40 p.m.
EVERY Friday, students will be released one hour early to provide teachers time to collaborate for student learning. This affects full-day and half-day afternoon preschool students through 12th grade students. Click here for more information on Friday Early Release. On Friday Early Release days start times will not change, but release times will be as follows:
- Lyon, McCulloch, Price, Schofield, Sweeny, full-day and half-day afternoon EC Classes: 2:40 p.m.
- RMS: 1:50 p.m.
- RHS: 1:40 p.m.
The Republic School District greatly appreciates the partnership with local agencies on this project. We look forward to seeing all of our students as we start the 2023-2024 school together on Monday, August 21!