Transporting Children

[LaLa1923]

Do any of you transport children from a local elementary school in your area? Pros/Cons and all advice welcome!

My son will be starting preschool in August and they let out at 1 PM. I'm considering hiring an assistant or personal car service to pick up and it might give me a chance to enroll some of his classmates. There is only one daycare in the area that picks up from there and they have a poor star rating...they just don't have any competition w/ transportation so they always stay full!

I just bought a 12 passenger van for this purpose! It also allows me to take the kids on field trips. I do the transportation. It has not gotten me any more business, but I think this is also because parents made their arrangements before school started.

I charge $25 MORE per week for before and after care!!

The average rate is $100 a week for before and after care. However, they do not transport.

I bought a choo choo wagon to help me get the kids loaded and un-loaded. I put everyone in their car and drive it to the van, then buckle everyone in. I do this in reverse when we get back. My drive is next to my house but this way I know everyone stays put until I can buckle them in.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Do any of you transport children from a local elementary school in your area? Pros/Cons and all advice welcome!

My son will be starting preschool in August and they let out at 1 PM. I'm considering hiring an assistant or personal car service to pick up and it might give me a chance to enroll some of his classmates. There is only one daycare in the area that picks up from there and they have a poor star rating...they just don't have any competition w/ transportation so they always stay full!

I do not transport (center), but have an elementary school across the street, and one older sibling does walk over after school.
This sounds like a GREAT opportunity for you though!

[coolconfidentme]

All buses stop in front of my DC.., including the Head Start bus.

[TwinKristi]

I have a school 2 blocks away that my own kids attend so I will pick up from there. We usually walk and now the boys are all big enough to walk. I do have one younger boy Wed & Fri so I will either walk down or send my high schooler on those days.
Last year I watched a kindergartener who went half days and that was a huge pain. Screwed up naps, lunch, etc. glad I don't do that now and won't in the future. The only time I will drive is if the weather is bad.

[JoseyJo]

We take one SA sibling to and from school daily. There are 2 of us so it isn't a big deal at all

[Patches]

I JUST started transporting a couple weeks ago so I could get DS to and from school. We were walking, but it was a 15-20 minute walk each way while pushing 3-6 kids along with me and it was a huge hassle to get out the door in time in the morning. It usually took me about an hour total and it threw off our whole day.The afternoons were even worse because it was HOT and DS was tired and sweaty when we got to school and when we got home. I did not transport at that time, but send out a letter and a policy update letting the parents know I needed to start driving him to and from school. Now, it is soooo much easier. We live a little less than a mile from the school and it takes me all of 15 minutes from the time we walk out the door to the time we walk back in the door. Love it happyface

[Sunshine74]

At our center we actually do 2 different schools, and another school has a bus stop a block away, so someone picks those kids up too!