August 8, 2024
Dear Neighbors,
We hope you are enjoying a great summer! We are busy preparing for the opening of Branson's 105th school year, and have a number of back-to-school updates to share with you.
The 2024-25 school year is fast approaching, and we are excited to welcome our students and faculty/staff back to campus beginning next week with fall sports tryouts. Below please find an overview of back-to-school events, and transportation updates we've made to keep our students and neighborhood safe.
Week of August 12: Athletic tryouts begin on the field and in our gyms, as well as at College of Marin. Additionally, new students and families will be coming to campus for small group orientation sessions.
Week of August 19: Faculty and staff return to campus for opening meetings. Students return to campus on Wednesday, August 21 for orientation. We will also begin hosting parent welcome events on campus during evenings this week.
Week of August 26: First official day of classes; bus transportation begins. School hours this year will once again be from 8:45 am - 3:30 pm, with athletic practices and other activities after school.
Transportation Updates
This marks the third year that Branson will be a "traffic-managed" campus. As you are likely aware, in 2022, Branson was allowed to amend its Conditional Use Permit (CUP), to grow its enrollment from 320 to 420 students over a 4-year period. In consideration for that growth, Branson must comply with traffic and parking regulations that apply to all community members, or the school could face severe penalties, including losing the next cohort of 25 additional students, enrollment rollbacks, and/or fines of $100,000 per infraction. Two years ago, we implemented new policies and procedures to aggressively limit traffic and parking on campus, which proved successful and will continue this year.
As with our students, parents, and faculty/staff, we ask all our neighbors for your help in limiting your car trips to campus. If you come to campus, kindly walk or bike and leave your car at home. Learn more about Branson’s transportation management.
Upcoming Neighborhood Group Meeting, 8/14
We’re pleased to invite you to our next Neighborhood Group meeting hosted by our Director of Operations, Todd Bickel on Wednesday, August 14 at 5:30 pm in the Crossways Living Room at Branson. We will discuss transportation plans for the upcoming school year. Kindly RSVP to communications@conch-garment.com with your name and address. We hope to see you there!
Keeping in Touch
As your neighbor, we send out occasional updates on what's happening on campus, such as invitations to events or school activities that might affect the neighborhood. If you would prefer not to receive Branson's neighbor email updates or if you know a neighbor who would like to be added to our mailing list, please email communications@conch-garment.com. We also encourage you to bookmark the "For Neighbors" page on our website, where these communications and updates are posted.
Warmly,
Your Friendly Neighborhood Relations Team