Transportation

Administration Boundaries Buildings & Grounds Food Service Contact Info: Tom Stringer, Director of Business Services 1400 Division Street South Northfield, MN 55057 507-663-0626 507-663-0611 (fax)

Welcome Elementary students (K-5) attend the school in the attendance area where their home is located, and school bus service is available for those who live beyond the walk boundary of their neighborhood school (approximately .75 miles for grades K-5). District policy allows for transportation to and from daycare sites, but the daycare facility must be within the attendance area of the school the child attends. Compañeros, the Spanish partial-immersion program, will be offered for grades 1-5 at both Bridgewater and Greenvale Park. Compañeros students who live in the Sibley area attend Bridgewater and transportation is provided. School Bus Questions and Answers: How will I know which bus my children will ride and when they should be at the bus stop? School bus information post cards are mailed in August. If parents have questions after receiving their cards, they should call Benjamin Bus Inc. at 645-5720. My child needs to be picked up at a daycare facility. How do I arrange for this? Complete a bus registration form (available at the school district office or at Benjamin Bus), or call Benjamin Bus at 645-5720. Remember, a daycare location must be in the same attendance area as the school your child attends. We live in the country. Why does our bus pick up students in town? Every effort is made to maximize the use of each school bus. Most buses are partially filled in rural areas, then fill up the bus with a few stops in town en route to the high school and middle school. If it were necessary to fill a bus with rural students only, the bus would have to cover many more miles and the bus routes would take longer. Bus stops in town actually result in shorter rides for most rural students. My child is not riding the bus this year. Do we need to let anyone know? Yes, it is very helpful to those planning routes if they know which students will not ride the school bus. This is especially important for rural students. It allows routes to be planned as efficiently as possible for those students who will ride the bus. Again, call Benjamin Bus at 645-5720 if you know that your children will not ride the bus to and/or from school. If your situation changes during the year and your children need to start riding the bus, just call the bus company and they can be added to the route. Can my child ride home with a friend after school? During the first month of the school year, students may not ride a bus other than their assigned route bus while routes are evaluated for capacity and schedules. In October a decision will be made regarding the practice of students riding home on a bus with a friend. Can my child ride a different bus to go to a music lesson or other activity? No, transportation is not available on regular route buses for non-school activities such as work, music or dance lessons, horse activities, scouts, church events, etc. We live outside the district. Is bus service available for my child? District policy provides for students who are residents of other districts who open-enroll to a Northfield district 659 school to be transported on district routes. These students need to come to a bus stop in the district and parents should contact the bus company to identify the most convenient bus stop to use. This year students will need to come to a bus stop on a route that serves the school that the child attends; transfers that were possible in the past may no longer be an option. For example, if an open-enrolled student will be attending Bridgewater, that child needs to come to a stop on a Bridgewater route. Buses that are going to other schools will not serve Bridgewater students because that school is on a different schedule. Because fewer buses will be used this year, routes will be different and bus stops for open-enrolled students that were used in the past may not be an option. It may be necessary to for a student to use a different bus stop this year. Parents should contact Benjamin Bus as soon as possible if they have open-enrolled students who need transportation. Contact Us Home Site Map Weather Station Copyright © 2006 Northfield Public Schools I.S.D. 659