Traffic & Transportation
At Nixon School, we believe that everyone is responsible for traffic safety and preventing traffic accidents involving children and adults near our school. Considerable time and effort have been spent on traffic safety issues at Nixon in recent years by our PTA, Stanford Campus Leaseholders Association, Stanford University's departments of Public Safety and Community Planning, California Highway Patrol, and the Palo Alto City-Wide Safe Routes to School Task Force. The police are aware of the complex traffic issues around Nixon and they patrol regularly. Please be aware that tickets for traffic violations will be issued!
If you are driving to or from school it is critical that you keep all children (and adults) safe by observing the following safety rules:
- Speed limit maximum in driveway and parking areas is 5 MPH.
- No parking is permitted during school hours in driveway or the bus circle. Parking is not allowed in the middle of this parking area. Parking is only allowed in visitor spots, in the lower parking lot or outside school grounds on street (i.e., Tolman Drive near back school entrance).
- Drop-off and Pick-up at loading zone only on lower blacktop. NOTE: There is no drop-off/pick-up yellow curb in upper parking lot. All drop-off/pick up is on lower blacktop ONLY.
- Cars may form a line prior to pick-up at either 1:00 PM or 2:15 PM, depending on day and school release time.
- At dismissal, parents who park in either parking lot must leave their cars and accompany students across the blacktop to return to their cars. Students are not allowed to walk unaccompanied across the pick-up area to parked cars.
- Be alert for children/parents crossing in crosswalks and parking lots.
- Drive slowly when entering the campus and keep within the designated lanes as you proceed to the yellow curb drop-off/pick-up zones.
- Have your child exit and enter the car quickly and safely at designated drop-off areas only so that the car line moves quickly.
- If your child needs assistance getting to and from the classroom, park your car in designated areas only. NO DROP OFF or PICK UP IN THE BUS CIRCLE before 8:30 am or after 1:00 pm. Never leave your car in the loading areas, pick-up driving line, staff parking areas, or in the red zones.
- Do not enter or block access to the bus area in front of the school.
Please respect the neighborhood environment - do not block driveways or crosswalks, double-park, or make U‑turns in driveways. Always drive attentively, safely, and slowly in the school zone and neighborhood!
Thank you for taking extra care to ensure the safety of all children at Nixon School. Please be sure that all family members and babysitters are made aware of these important safety rules. Demonstrate to our children that we adults are responsible, respectful and safe too!
Buses
The PAUSD Transportation Department transports many of our students to and from school. This department determines schedules, supervises drivers, and responds to problems. Bus schedules and bus rules are mailed to the parents of all children who ride the bus prior to the opening of school. Drivers have legal responsibility and authority for supervision of riders. They may withhold bus privileges from children who do not abide by bus rules. If you have a question or problem related to buses, or want to obtain a bus pass call the Transportation Department at 329-3747. Buses leave at 2:35 PM, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and at 1:20 PM on Wednesday and minimum days.
Bicycles, Skateboards, Scooters, and Rollerblades
Children may be able to pedal a bicycle before they have the skills, maturity and judgment to ride to school safely. All 3rd grade children will receive basic information in class on safe biking (the 3rd Grade Bike Safety program); we strongly discourage children aged 3rd grade and under from riding bicycles, skateboards, scooters, or rollerblades (or walking) to/from school without an adult accompanying them, and 4th and 5th grade students are encouraged to travel in groups if no adults are accompanying them. Furthermore, we strongly encourage parents to determine that their children are competent riders before they are permitted to ride to school unaccompanied - regardless of age.
Bicycles must be walked, not ridden, on the school grounds, including all crosswalks, paths, and the blacktop. All bikers must wear protective helmets. Bikes must be locked to a bike rack when parked at school.
Skateboards, rollerblades, and scooters are not allowed to be ridden on campus during arrival and dismissal times. If a child does skate to school, s/he must change out of the rollerblades and into regular shoes at the entrance to the school grounds. All rollerblades must be left at the school office until the end of the day. Shoes with wheels are not permitted to be worn at school during the school day. We have far too many steps for these shoes to be safe. Riding bikes, scooters, skateboards is permitted on school grounds after the end of enrichment classes at 4:00 pm or on weekends and holidays.
No Dogs on Campus
In the interest of safety, our school district has a "No dogs on Campus" policy from 7:45 a.m.-4:00 p.m. each day when students are present at school.
