Regional Bus Stops – Logistics and Friendships

by Stephanie Newitt

School has begun and the morning craziness has started.  Bus stop schedules have been distributed by the district.  Maybe your child has old friends at the bus stop, maybe they have the chance to build new friendships.  Maybe your child attends a neighborhood bus stop or maybe it’s a new regional bus stop.  Whatever the case, it is most likely that they will mirror your parent view of the bus stop experience.

FIRST, LOGISTICS

If you have questions about your child’s bus stop, check out THIS LINK to the GPS Transportation Department.   The number of bus stops, though NOT the number of actual buses, have multiplied for 2015-16 due to the regionalization of ALP, Special Education, and ELL services.  We appreciate that the task of organizing bus routes and bus availability is more complex this year than it has ever been before.  We thank the transportation department for their efforts with this daunting task.

GPS Bus Stop Safety Tips

NOW FRIENDSHIPS

This is our third year attending a regional bus stop.  For our first year, all the children were new to the bus stop.  They made friends.  Though some of the children were in different grades, they connected.  They looked out for each other.  They playfully teased each other and respected one another.  This was their social safety net as they rode the bus to a new school.

What helped make this possible?  As parents we got out of our cars and connected with other parents.  This encouraged our kids to interact as well.  We parents swapped phone numbers so we could notify one another if one of the kids wouldn’t be on the bus one morning or schedule after school play dates at the park.  As parents we supported one another in teaching our children respect for each other, the driver and the property of others.  We shared similar values.  And we got together at least once over each summer so the kids could still feel connected.

 Relationships.  As we model for our children, and also guide them in building positive relationships, they will be able to develop the social skills necessary to navigate a successful life.  The regional bus stop, per our experience, has been an opportunity to build positive friendships.