About 2,000 students and 250 staff at West Chicago Community High School are navigating a new one-way parking pattern that separates entrance and exit routes near Route 25.

The school introduced the system in September to move vehicles through its lots faster during arrival and dismissal, when the entire campus empties or fills in roughly 15 minutes, first reported by the Wildcat Chronicle.

Dave Pater, the school's executive director of operations and safety, said buses and cars entering from Joliet Street already clog Route 25. The revised flow gives drivers a single, predictable path through each lot.

Pater said parent adjustment has improved since the first day of school.

"Just understanding the flow and the why takes some time," Pater told the Wildcat Chronicle.

One visible change: drivers leaving the staff lot near the football stadium now must turn right instead of left. English teacher Mary Fremeau said the restriction makes it harder to reach Ann Street and Joliet Street, depending on her destination. She said she had to park in a different spot and walk in from the opposite side of the building after the switch.

Fremeau acknowledged the safety logic. Left-turning drivers previously had poor visibility of oncoming traffic on Ann Street, she said.

Security personnel from Andy Frain Services, an Aurora-based firm, wear brightly colored vests and direct vehicles and students crossing the lots during arrival and dismissal.

The school closed Entrance 24 midway through the previous school year, consolidating all visitors at Entrance 1. That entrance uses three controlled-access points to screen visitors before they enter the rest of the building. Pater said Entrance 1 procedures have not changed for the 2026-27 school year.

The District 94 website instructs drivers to follow designated traffic-flow maps and posted signs. The school has also posted pick-up and drop-off instructions in English and Spanish on the Operations and Safety section of its site.

Families with concerns about a security interaction should start by contacting the Dean's Office, Pater said.