An unfamiliar adult at the door at five o’clock is the moment every educator dreads. The answer should not depend on who is on shift or whether someone remembered a phone call from last week. It should be written down, approved and visible to the person at the door.
Pickup contacts belong to the student
In Ellerna, the adults allowed to pick up a child are part of that child’s record. Staff can check the list before releasing a child, and it is the same list for every staff member at that location.
Changes come through family requests
When a family needs to add someone, a grandparent for a week or a new caregiver, they send a family request from their own account. Your team reviews it and approves or declines it. No one is added because of a hallway conversation, and there is a record of who asked and who approved.
- Guardians ask to add someone from their family account.
- Location staff approve or decline each request.
- Approved contacts appear on the student record straight away.
Check-in and check-out that staff confirm
Attendance works the same way. A check-in or check-out is requested, then confirmed by a staff member who can see the child. Each student’s attendance history is kept, so questions about who arrived when have an answer.
Access that follows the role
Teachers see the classes they work in. Location admins see their location. Families see their own children. Keeping each person to what their role needs is the simplest safeguard of all.
