Monte Vista launches new drop off zone

LENDING A HELPING HAND» Council member Robbyn Battles helps a student at the new drop zone.
LENDING A HELPING HAND» Council member Robbyn Battles helps a student at the new drop zone.

By Robin GOLDSWORTHY

Parents, teachers and con¬cerned neighbors of Monte Vista Elementary School are endorsing a new drop off point for the school’s students. Located in the parking lot of Two Strike Park on Rosemont Avenue, the site provides a safe place for parents to drop off their children. Similar to the school’s Monty Lane on Orange Avenue, it is hoped that the additional zone will provide some much needed ease in the congestion that typically surrounds the school in the morning and afternoon.

Crescenta Valley Town Councilmember Robbyn Battles created the plan and was there for the first day that it was initiated on Tuesday.

Though there was not too much traffic on Tuesday morning due to the school hosting its annual Howdy Coffee for parents, Battles was not discouraged. “We need parents to know we’re here,” she said. “It’s so much safer. It’s literally a five minute walk to Monte Vista.”

After entering the north end of the parking lot, parents can pull into a designated cone zone where volunteers, outfitted in light weight florescent green safety vests, greet students and help them from the vehicle. Students can then walk safely south on the sidewalk to Monte Vista.

At the corner, sheriff’s volunteer Robert Munoz will wait to make sure they safely cross the street.

Battles said that the few who used the new drop site on Tuesday offered positive comments.

“So many said, ‘This is so cool!,’” she reported. “I en¬courage others to come out and thrown on a florescent vest and join us.”