Can "A la salida" be a time instead of a noun?

Question

Paco's grandmother takes him to school for the first time. She says to him,

"A la salida me esperas en la puerta". (from the story Paco el chato)

This feels redundant to me. "At the exit wait for me at the door". Unless the exit area is really large so to be specific she specifies "at the door".

but someone told me the following:

"A la salida" puede referirse a un tiempo de alguna actividad,

Tambien se puede decir "Al salir me esperas en la puerta".

What does "A la salida" mean in the given sentence?

What does "A la salida" mean in terms of time and how is it used?

Answer 1

“A la salida” means “at exit time” (it suggests an appointed time, but it could also be “once you're outside/ready to go”). The preposition a tends to be used with time: “a las tres de la tarde”, “al mediodía”, “a la hora de comer”.

Other expressions like this are ambiguous. For example “a la vuelta” can mean both “round the corner” (place) or “when one is back home” (time).

If you want to say “at the exit”, that's “en la salida”.