In partnership with the Croton chapter of Mothers Out Front, we "seeded" several walking bus routes to and from CET and PVC this fall. See issue #53 for some more details on the maps we created for the routes. Here are the emails we sent out to people who were hooked up with a bus route:
Hi,
Thanks for your interest in the Walking School Bus. Based on your answers to our survey, we’ve added you to the [Insert Bus Route Color] bus route. We suggest that your child “board” the route at [insert intersection]. You can find a map and timetable here. Times are only given for morning pick-ups, as afternoons are more difficult to arrange. We scheduled the pick-up times so that walkers will arrive at PVC at 7:45 a.m.
We are asking everyone on the route to get in touch with one another to coordinate. Walking School buses are ultimately organized by the children and parents themselve, and because of the unusual school schedules this year, require more logistics than we can manage. It helps if one parent acts as coordinator each day, checking in with everyone on the route to see who is coming. This role can be alternated each day. I’m including a list of contacts so you can start organizing:
[insert contact list for this route]
The first date for walking will be September 21st. Unless your child regularly walks to school, we recommend that a parent accompany him or her for the first few trips to help familiarize them with the route and make sure they are comfortable with the other children. After that, parents may also wish to accompany their children to the walking bus stop and wait until the rest of the entourage arrives. Let me know if you have any questions. While I’m not on your route, I’m happy to help in any way and I can’t wait to see out how this goes!
Best,
[Sender’s Name & Organization]
Private Info Letter CET
Hi,
Thanks for your interest in the Walking School Bus. Based on your answers to our survey, we’ve added you to the [Insert Bus Route Color] bus route. We suggest that you “board” the route at insert intersection. You can find a map and timetable here.
Times are only given for morning pick-ups, as afternoons are trickier to coordinate. We have scheduled the times so that walkers should arrive at CET at 8:05 a.m.
We recommend that at least for the first few trips to and from school, a parent accompany their children to familiarize them with the route and to get to know the other children and parents involved. After that point, depending on your comfort level, you may wish to trade off chaperoning duties from one day to the next.
If trading chaperone duties, parents should accompany their children to the walking bus stop in the morning and wait until the rest of the entourage arrives, just as they would a yellow school bus. Similarly, in the afternoon, parents should be waiting at the walking bus stop once the group arrives to pick up their children.
Bear in mind that CET requires permission to release a K-2 child in the afternoon to someone other than the parent. If you have a young child, and wish him or her to walk home with another parent on any given day, you must arrange that one your own.
If you are the chaperone for the morning, please start the route at the terminus (i.e. Old Post South & Truesdale; Cleveland & Arlington; Radnor & Elmore; etc.), even if your usual stop is closer to the school. Afternoon chaperones are asked to accompany the last child all the way to the end. We hope that each parent recognizes that this is a cooperative effort and will only work if everyone does their fair share.
We are asking everyone on the route to get in touch with one another to coordinate. Walking School buses are ultimately organized by the children and parents themselves. I’m including a list of contacts so you can start organizing:
[insert contact list for this route]
The first date for walking will be September 21st. Let me know if you have any questions. While I’m not on your route, I’m happy to help in any way and I can’t wait to see out how this goes!
In partnership with the Croton chapter of Mothers Out Front, we "seeded" several walking bus routes to and from CET and PVC this fall. See issue #53 for some more details on the maps we created for the routes. Here are the emails we sent out to people who were hooked up with a bus route:
Hi,
Thanks for your interest in the Walking School Bus. Based on your answers to our survey, we’ve added you to the [Insert Bus Route Color] bus route. We suggest that your child “board” the route at [insert intersection]. You can find a map and timetable here. Times are only given for morning pick-ups, as afternoons are more difficult to arrange. We scheduled the pick-up times so that walkers will arrive at PVC at 7:45 a.m.
We are asking everyone on the route to get in touch with one another to coordinate. Walking School buses are ultimately organized by the children and parents themselve, and because of the unusual school schedules this year, require more logistics than we can manage. It helps if one parent acts as coordinator each day, checking in with everyone on the route to see who is coming. This role can be alternated each day. I’m including a list of contacts so you can start organizing:
[insert contact list for this route]
The first date for walking will be September 21st. Unless your child regularly walks to school, we recommend that a parent accompany him or her for the first few trips to help familiarize them with the route and make sure they are comfortable with the other children. After that, parents may also wish to accompany their children to the walking bus stop and wait until the rest of the entourage arrives. Let me know if you have any questions. While I’m not on your route, I’m happy to help in any way and I can’t wait to see out how this goes!
Best, [Sender’s Name & Organization]
Private Info Letter CET
Hi,
Thanks for your interest in the Walking School Bus. Based on your answers to our survey, we’ve added you to the [Insert Bus Route Color] bus route. We suggest that you “board” the route at insert intersection. You can find a map and timetable here.
Times are only given for morning pick-ups, as afternoons are trickier to coordinate. We have scheduled the times so that walkers should arrive at CET at 8:05 a.m.
We recommend that at least for the first few trips to and from school, a parent accompany their children to familiarize them with the route and to get to know the other children and parents involved. After that point, depending on your comfort level, you may wish to trade off chaperoning duties from one day to the next.
If trading chaperone duties, parents should accompany their children to the walking bus stop in the morning and wait until the rest of the entourage arrives, just as they would a yellow school bus. Similarly, in the afternoon, parents should be waiting at the walking bus stop once the group arrives to pick up their children.
Bear in mind that CET requires permission to release a K-2 child in the afternoon to someone other than the parent. If you have a young child, and wish him or her to walk home with another parent on any given day, you must arrange that one your own.
If you are the chaperone for the morning, please start the route at the terminus (i.e. Old Post South & Truesdale; Cleveland & Arlington; Radnor & Elmore; etc.), even if your usual stop is closer to the school. Afternoon chaperones are asked to accompany the last child all the way to the end. We hope that each parent recognizes that this is a cooperative effort and will only work if everyone does their fair share.
We are asking everyone on the route to get in touch with one another to coordinate. Walking School buses are ultimately organized by the children and parents themselves. I’m including a list of contacts so you can start organizing:
[insert contact list for this route]
The first date for walking will be September 21st. Let me know if you have any questions. While I’m not on your route, I’m happy to help in any way and I can’t wait to see out how this goes!
Best, [Sender’s Name & Organization]