Case Study
Effortless Dismissals: Save Time and Offer Peace of Mind
School
Community Christian Academy, Martinez, GA
Interviewed Staff
Principal Angel Morgan
Discover how the principal of Community Christian Academy PK3-12 decreased dismissal time by 20+ minutes while delighting parents and staff.
The Problem
Community Christian Academy in Martinez, GA needed help speeding up their daily dismissal process and doing so in a more safe and secure way. Because they are a Private Christian school there are no buses- and with around 400 students the carline was simply taking too long to get through. They knew there had to be a better way, and decided to find one.
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The Daily Dismissal & Emergency Preparedness Story of Community Christian Academy
Community Christian is a small and relatively new school. They are a PK3-12 school of approximately 400 students. 75% of students are sent home through a carline and the other 25% are involved in afterschool programs. Knowing where the students were located during dismissal, verifying pickup permissions, and the carline taking approximately 45 minutes to get through were all challenges they faced on a daily basis
Previous Dismissal Process
Before adopting Pikmykid, Community Christian would provide each car with a numbered tag and announce the number for the kid to be dismissed for pickup. To create some kind of safety procedure, they would watermark the tags so that they could not be copied. The issues they faced with this process included parents forgetting the tag for pickup and cars trying to jump in front of others or move up in line before they should. It was not a quick or smooth process and left staff wondering if they had the safest plan in place.
The Solution
Community Christian stumbled upon Pikmykid online and it sparked their interest. They started asking questions and thoroughly researching it before committing. Pikmykid provided the solution they needed to speed up their dismissal process, ensure they knew where and when the students were dismissed, and provided the much needed verification of parents who were picking them up.
Efficient Daily Dismissal
So, what has changed? A car dismissal time that used to be around 45 minutes is now down to 20-25 minutes!
This year parents are required to use the Pikmykid app when picking up their kids. The only exception is a few grandparents that do not have smart phones and the school knows exactly who they are. However, these grandparents have seen the app and how it works, and have mentioned they are seriously considering purchasing a smartphone just for the purpose of using the Pikmykid app when picking up their grandchildren.
The app is also being used for check-in and dismissal of after school activities like tutoring, after school care and sports. There is peace of mind knowing when, where and with whom, all students are dismissed daily.
Their New Dismissal Process
The lower school, PK3-5, is dismissed at the end of the day to the gymnasium. Teachers use their phones to log in to the Pikmykid portal and dismiss the students to the carline or appropriate after school location when it is time.
There are four teachers outside putting students into cars, one for each pick-up line, as they have four total. Community Christian no longer needs to issue numbered tags for cars and worry about them being stolen or dismissing students to the wrong person.
This has especially pleased Principal Morgan, because ensuring the safety of her students is most important to her. Even the local law enforcement agencies have told her that Community Christian has one of the best carlines around since using Pikmykid because it is safe, secure and quick!
The Results
Advice to Get Started
Principal Morgan advises schools to be all-in when starting with Pikmykid. Some of the additional advice she provided; Give yourself, as a school, time to learn it first. Then give your parents time to learn it. Pick a champion to be the ‘go-to person’ for questions and as a main contact, then make it a requirement for all to use, staff and parents alike, and enforce it. Once everyone is comfortable using it, daily dismissal will be so much safer, quicker and everyone will be pleased.
The Final Verdict
Everyone loves using Pikmykid at Community Christian Academy, especially the parents. Some brag that they can be in and out of the carline in 15 minutes! It is so smooth and quick and allows them to make last minute changes to pickup if needed. They also appreciate the messaging and alerts which allow them to know when their kid has been dismissed from school and where exactly they are located on campus if they stayed for after school activities. Implementing Pikmykid has created a much smoother and safer daily dismissal process that everyone involved is happy about!