Busing is always the one area that gives most headaches to parents and teachers and bus drivers! We acknowledge this and apologize for the lack of specific information we are able to give you. Until exact numbers and addresses are analyzed by the bus company, it is impossible to determine exact times for the bus runs. Just have faith that after the first couple of days, a regular routine will be established and the times for drop off and pickup will be more consistent.
On the first day of kindergarten we collected pick up and bus information for each child to determine who would be starting busing on Monday. We have a contracted bus company that provides busing for the students of Macdonald Drive Elementary School and on Friday afternoon, we forwarded the names and addresses to them. We also have our bus tags ready at school for the children to wear when we put them on the bus at school.
There are two different bus runs for the kindergarten classes - Early Morning/3:00 Bus and Lunchtime Bus.
1. Early Morning/3:00 Bus Run : Three different buses transport the children to school for 8:30 a.m. and home at 3:00 p.m. We call those Bus 11, Bus 12, and Bus 13. YAll bus runs will begin at 8:20. Please note that these buses do not stop at each individual house. They have designated areas where they stop. We do not have those exact locations, however if you are unsure of where it may be, please contact the office and they will try to answer your specific questions. This early morning and end of day bus will have a mixture of students from Kindergarten - Grade 6. Kindergarten children will be sat at the front of the bus unless they are travelling with older siblings and wish to sit with them. When the buses arrive at MDE in the morning, a teacher will meet the bus and the children will be walked into kindergarten. As well, all kindergarten children will be walked to the door of their bus at the end of the day.
2. Lunchtime Bus Run : One bus will bring the morning kindergarten children home and pick up the afternoon kindergarten children. The bus will leave the school at approximately 11:35 (however will likely be a little later the first few days). We do not have specific details on the route this bus will take as the route has to be devised by the contractor based on the addresses we provided them. We ask that parents be watching and waiting outside for the first day at 11:40. You will be able to speak with the driver then to address any of your questions about this specific bus run. Because only kindergarten children are on this bus, the driver will try to stop at each individual house for the lunchtime kindergarten pickup and drop off. Please note there are some streets that do not provide enough room for the bus to turn, so the stop may be on the corner of your street. Again, if you have specific questions, please contact the office and they will try to find the answers for you.
We hope this helps...at least a little. We thank you for your patience and cooperation as we get the bus system up and running!
