Transportation Patterns Change with the Opening of New Schools
August 24, 2010 – With the start of school for another 100,000 Wake County students on August 25, drivers are asked to be alert to students at bus stops and watch for school buses transporting students to school. There will be changing transportation patterns with the opening of new schools.In many cases, schools will be slightly shifting schedules to start the new school year. School schedules have been adjusted, by about 10 minutes in most cases, as schools have scheduled professional learning team time instead of building it into the school system schedule.
Two new schools, Heritage High and Mills Park Middle, will open August 25. Wake Forest-Rolesville High students will return to their campus after spending a year in swing space at the Heritage High campus. The arrival of school staff, hundreds of parents transporting children and school buses running new routes to school will have an impact on traffic near the schools.
Heritage High is located at 1150 Forestville Road in Wake Forest. As a new high school, Heritage will open with ninth- and 10th-grade students. Additional grades will be added in the next two school years. Wake Forest-Rolesville High is located at 420 West Stadium Drive in Wake Forest. Mills Park Middle is located at 441 Mills Park Drive in Cary, adjacent to Mills Park Elementary.
Find Transportation information
Parents are encouraged to visit our Transportation website at www.wcpss.net/transportation to find answers to questions regarding services due to the high volume of calls the department receives in the first weeks of school. Should you still have questions, we can be reached at (919) 856-8050. We will have additional operators during this time period to take and return calls. Should you need to leave a message; the department will return your call within 24 hours.
Bus routes are online at www.wcpss.net/school-directory/bus-routes/. Other information regarding transportation services can be found on the Transportation website, such as how to request services, forms and board policies related to transportation services.
Prepare new bus riders
Kindergartners and first-graders who ride the bus will be given name tags for the first 20 days of school. Schools will place name tags on students before boarding the afternoon bus. Tags will include student name, school name and phone number, bus route number and bus stop location. Parents are encouraged to teach children to know their home address, phone number and bus route name. Help prepare children for the new experience of riding the bus to school. Parents can review bus safety with their children and develop a family plan for leaving for school in the morning and returning home in the afternoon.
The Wake County Public School System provides bus transportation to all base students in the system who live one-and-a-half miles or more from school and to students with identified special needs. The system's transportation department is committed to providing these students with safe, efficient and reliable transportation service that contributes to their overall academic success.
The start of the school year is a challenging time for the WCPSS Transportation Department. Transportation planners created routes for the new year by looking at the students who were transported the prior year and obtaining new information from WCPSS Growth Management of students enrolled for this school year. The Transportation Department creates new routes based on their expectation of student ridership.
The first week of school, parents and students are making decisions about the best use of buses to get to and from school. As families make decisions about their use of buses, the Transportation Department adapts routes to meet the riders' needs. As families finalize decisions about their use of bus service, bus routes are finalized. This process generally takes about two weeks.
By the end of August when all schools are in session, Wake County Public School System drivers will be behind the wheels of 925 buses transporting approximately 75,000 students safely each day.
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