Safety Information

Listed below are policies and instructions for various safety procedures at Mother of Christ School and Learning Center.

Arrival & Dismissal Times

Event	Time
School day begins	7:45 a.m.
Dismissal — Kindergarten–1st Grade	2:40 p.m.
Dismissal — 2nd–4th Grade	2:50 p.m.
Dismissal — 5th–8th Grade	3:00 p.m.

Drop-off and Pick-up Procedures

Learning Center: Learning Center students must be dropped off by 8 a.m. at the gate inside the school. VPK is dismissed at 11 a.m. through the banquet hall doors next to the church office. All other students must be picked up in the Learning Center. Please sign your child in and out in the book at the front.

When dropping off K–8 students, parents and guardians must follow these procedures:

Before 7:30 a.m., students will not be allowed to be dropped off through the office unless a sibling has been dropped off at the Learning Center.
Enter the school driveway through the first entrance on 26th Street. Please do not enter through 142nd Avenue, as this is an exit only.
Turn right in the parking lot and follow the flow of traffic into the drive-through area.
Students will be picked up from their car and escorted into the school building. Please do not exit your vehicle — an adult or safety patrol will escort your child from the car.
School begins promptly at 7:45 a.m. If your child is not in their seat at 7:45, they will be marked tardy even if they are dropped off in the drive-through. The gate will close at 7:45 a.m. — after this time, you must park and accompany your child to the office.
Do not drop off your student in the parking lot. For their safety, you must accompany them into the school building.
Exit through the gate on 142nd Avenue. This is an exit only.

After-school pickup: Enter and exit as you would during drop-off. There are three dismissal times — Kindergarten through 1st grade are dismissed at 2:40 p.m., 2nd through 4th grade at 2:50 p.m., and 5th through 8th grade at 3:00 p.m. Please do not arrive before your scheduled time; you will be directed around to make the line over again, as students are still participating in instructional time.

Students may only be picked up in the office before 2 p.m. and after 3 p.m. If there is an emergency, please contact the office. If a parent arrives late, they must pick up their child in the office — for their safety, students will not be sent out to the parking lot alone.

Visiting the School Building

Visitors to Mother of Christ School or Learning Center who arrive before 9 a.m. may enter through the church doors. After 9 a.m., you must enter through the church office doors to the right of the main doors and ring the doorbell for admittance — a member of the office staff will open the door for you. The church office is closed between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m.; please ring the doorbell for the school to let you in.

If you are dropping off or picking up a student, please use the appropriate sign-in or sign-out sheet in the front office. All visitors who will be visiting any other part of the school beyond the front office must sign in using the visitor sheet and must wear a name tag, which must be visible at all times.

Inclement Weather Procedure

If school is cancelled, postponed, or forced to dismiss early due to inclement weather, families will be notified through a schoolwide text notification. Parents and guardians should also monitor local TV and radio stations, as well as local news websites, for updates on school closures. Mother of Christ follows closing procedures given by the Archdiocese of Miami Office of Catholic Schools.

Reporting Illness

If your student is sick, please keep them home from school. Absences must be reported to the school office by phone at (786) 497-6111. Please refer to the school handbook for more information.