Drive Safely with Start of New School Year July 11
July 8, 2011 – Drivers will find students back at bus stops and school buses traveling the streets when the Wake County Public School System’s year-round schools begin the new school year on July 11.We ask drivers to help keep our students safe as they learn new routines with the start of a new school year.
The year-round schools are returning to session after ending the 2010-11 school year on June 30, so drivers should notice few changes in transportation patterns near schools.
Drivers will notice decreased traffic around five under-enrolled year-round schools that will operate on a single-track for two years. Alston Ridge Elementary, Highcroft Elementary, Lake Myra Elementary, Rand Road Elementary and Timber Drive Elementary will operate as single-track, year-round schools on track four. The change should provide an operational savings of $400,000 per school year. The first day of school for these students will be August 1.
Two new schools will open next month. The Wake NC State STEM Early College High School will open August 8 at 1220 Varsity Drive in Raleigh. Walnut Creek Elementary will open August 25 at 2600 Sunnybrook Road in Raleigh.
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 for the year-round schools will be online at www.wcpss.net/school-directory/bus-routes/. Bus routes for traditional calendar schools will be updated online in mid-August. 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.
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 935 buses transporting approximately 75,000 students safely each day.
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