From the desk of Bobby Brasher, Director of Campus & Student Safety:

School is open and we are up and running. With this comes 55 million school children running all over the place as well as loading and unloading, in and out of cars, buses, trucks and bikes.  Now more than ever, we need to be careful to watch for child safety. Thirteen percent of these children will be walking or riding their bikes to class. Here at Brook Hill, we do not have that many, but as you transport your children to and from Brook Hill you will pass through other school zones and neighborhoods.  BE ALERT!  The afternoon hours are particularly dangerous. Over the last decade, nearly 1 in 4 child pedestrian fatalities occurred between 3pm and 7pm.

Four Basic Safety Tips:

• Slow Down – A walking child struck by a vehicle traveling at 35 MPH is twice as likely to be killed than one being hit by a car traveling at 25MPH.
• Come to a complete stop – Research shows that more than 1/3 of drivers roll through stop signs
• Eliminate Distractions – Cell phones in your hands while you drive DOUBLE your odds of having a crash.
• Watch for Bicycles – Children on bikes are often inexperienced, unsteady and unpredictable. Slow down and anticipate this, most don’t follow the rules and will cut through, between and across streets and parking lots without looking up.

In closing, we are opening up the new lower school parking lot and ask for patience as we strive for a more convenient, quicker and safer environment to get your children on and off campus.