For about seven minutes after the bell sounds the end of the school day at Thoreau elementary, chaos rules.
Children tumble out of the school in gleeful disorder and parents arrive to pick them up by car, foot or bike – all while traffic whizzes past on busy Nakoma Road.
At Thoreau, some parents park directly across from the school where they must make the treacherous journey across Nakoma, often with little ones in tow, without a crosswalk nearby.
“It’s very frightening,” said Thoreau Principal Elizabeth Fritz, “because the drivers of the cars aren’t as careful as one would hope.”