• Awareness
• Benefits
• Parent & Student Confidentiality
• How does it work?
• Commuter License Program
• Your Responsibilities

Awareness
SchoolPool has developed brochures, calendars, surveys, posters, and flyers to distribute to parents informing them of the program and its benefits. School administration, Parent Teacher Associations (PTA), and other groups play a vital role in the implementation of the SchoolPool program.

Benefits
The successful implementation of the School Pool program will:

1. Help families solve transportation problems getting to and from school
2. Help families manage school and work schedules
3. Identify other parents or guardians to call upon when facing car or other last minute challenges picking up children
4. Help students arrive on time for school
5. Allow students and families to make new friends
6. Encourage students and families to travel safely in groups
7. Reduce traffic congestion around the school's pick-up and drop-off areas
8. Provide a voluntary alternative to driving children to and from school every day
9. Teach children a great lesson on saving our environment.

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Parent and Student Confidentiality
As a participating school in the SchoolPool program, only your students and their parents are allowed to participate.  SFCS guarantees that all personal information will remain confidential and will only be shared between other parents participating in the program. As a further safety step, the SchoolPool Commuter License was developed to provide the school with the information of registered participants. Students receive a license to wear on their backpack and parents receive a vehicle hangtag to be displayed in the car line during pick-up and drop-off.

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How does it work?
As easy as 1, 2, 3.  Each parent completes the registration form online or in person.  The information from each parent is submitted to our Ridepro system. Ridepro is a computer mapping software used to match parents/students living within a 3 mile radius of each other.  Each parent will then receive a ridematch letter, which is a list of parents living within a 3 mile radius of that applicant's home address. Parents are then encouraged to contact their matches and coordinate a carpool group.

Bike and Walk Group
The SchoolPool coordinator works with school administrators, crossing guards, and school traffic officers to determine safer walking and biking routes for students and parents interested in walking or biking to or from school

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Commuter License Program
The Commuter License Program is a resource for the school administrator to identify carpoolers and biking/walking groups.  The data collected from information submitted by parents is sent to the school, so the school is aware of all parents and students registered and their traveling agendas.  Once a parent has found their carpool group they must sign-up for their Commuter License Packet.  Included in the Commuter License Packet is a hangtag for the vehicle to access the carpool lane (if applicable) and be recognized as a carpool by the school administration. Students receive a license to be displayed on their backpack for easy visibility as a carpool, walk, and bike student.

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Your Responsibilities

This program demands significant involvement by your school staff. Ultimate success is highly dependent on their efforts. To help achieve a smooth and successful implementation, it will be your responsibility to perform the following:

1. Designate a 'SchoolPool coordinator' at the school.  This person(s) will be responsible for the daily monitoring of the SchoolPool program. He or she will be a strong advocate and take on a leadership role in all aspects of the program.
   
   
2. Designate a central location such as cafeteria, school office, or school entrance bulletin board to display SchoolPool program information, newsletter articles, or photos.  This area will possibly house any transportation information such as carpooling tips, construction detours, traffic tips, newsletter articles
   
   
3. Incorporate articles about the program into school or PTA newsletters, morning announcements, email blasts to parents, memos to parents from the principal, school events, and announcements at PTA and staff meetings.  This offers the opportunity for families to receive information about the program and speak directly to SchoolPool representative to answer questions.
   

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'Green' Your School!
Interested in being a 'green' school? The SchoolPool program satisfies four credits for the LEED® for Schools New Construction and Major Renovations for K-12 rating system: (1) Low Emitting & Fuel, (2) Parking Capacity, (3) Bicycle Use, and (4) Public Transportation Access.  LEED® for Schools is the recognized third party standard for high-performance schools that are healthy for students, comfortable for teachers, and cost-effective.