Frequently Asked Questions

Although Berkeley Carroll works with a private bus service to provide transportation, we rely on Department of Education guidelines to establish who can ride the bus. Students who meet Department of Education guidelines qualify for bus service. Please reference the table on the Bus Service page for details about DOE guidelines. In some cases, when a student does not live near any existing bus routes, the school may not be able to accommodate a request to participate in the bus program. If you would like information about existing routes, please email transportation@berkeleycarroll.org.

The purpose of bus service is to get students from their assigned bus stop to school in the morning and from school to their assigned bus stop in the afternoon safely. 

Bus service is provided every regular day that school is in session, but it is not provided on orientation days or family conference days. Afternoon bus service is also not provided for PreK students during the “phase-in” period, and it is not provided to Lower School students on Arch Day. On school-wide half-days, bus service will be provided at the 12:00 p.m. dismissal.

Berkeley Carroll does its best to provide a close and convenient bus stop for all families, but in order to serve as many eligible families as possible, the school cannot provide door-to-door service. Each bus generally services 20-43 students and makes 6-10 stops. In most cases, bus stops will be within a five to eight block radius of each rider’s home.

The duration of the ride depends on the location of each students’ stop, where it falls on the route, and how many students ride each bus. Students who live furthest from the school can typically expect to be on the bus for between 45 minutes and one hour, unless they are coming from Manhattan or Queens, in which case the ride will likely be between one hour and 90 minutes. Students who live closer to the school can expect a shorter ride, of perhaps 20-40 minutes.

All bus riders should arrive at their assigned bus stop at least five minutes before the scheduled arrival of the bus. If families are late to the bus stop, we cannot guarantee that the bus driver will be able to wait.

A bus registration form is sent to returning and new students each June. There is an annual non-refundable $500 registration fee charged at that time. Bus routes are sent out at the end of August.

Bus service is provided by ARJ, whose professional drivers have extensive school bus experience. Families can expect to have the same driver in both the morning and afternoon for the full school year, except for occasional vacations and sick days, when a substitute driver will be provided. 

The bus driver’s only job is to follow the assigned route to pick students up in the morning and bring them to school on time, and pick students up at school in the afternoon and drop them off at their assigned spot.
 

ARJ's mandatory School Bus Driver Basic Training (20 hours) is designed to prepare the new school bus driver for the challenges of school bus driving. The training program includes:

• School bus driving fundamentals
• Defensive driving techniques
• Weather-related driving techniques
• Interpersonal relations (for dealing with parents, students, and staff)
• Federal and State laws
• School district policies and procedures
• Bus stop procedures
• Railroad grade crossing procedures
• Accident and emergency procedures
• First aid CPR, and the Heimlich Maneuver
• Blood borne pathogens and body fluid cleanup procedures

The School Bus Driver Advanced Training Program (10 hours) is an extensive refresher course designed to hone defensive driving and student discipline techniques, and includes topics such as:

• Current safety issues and concerns
• Local district issues
• Current weather conditions and driving techniques
• Road construction projects
• Driver-student relations and conflict resolution

Berkeley Carroll also hosts an orientation day for the bus drivers and monitors before the school year begins, which includes reviewing the Bus Rider Agreement, going over bus driver and monitor roles and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion information. 
 

Bus monitors are provided by ARJ. A monitor’s job is to keep the students safe on their trips to and from school. Families can expect to have the same monitor in both the morning and afternoon for the full school year, except for occasional vacations and sick days, when a substitute monitor will be provided. Families will receive the name and cell phone number for their monitor when they receive the bus route information.

Monitors are not responsible for providing updates to families about the bus whereabouts during the morning or afternoon routes.
 

No, unfortunately the bus service is only available for students going home directly after dismissal. Berkeley Carroll does not offer bus service for students who have after school commitments that keep them on campus past the normal dismissal times.

No, unfortunately the bus service is only able to drop students at their assigned stop. We cannot provide transportation to classes, sports practices or clubs that children participate in outside of school hours and due to traffic, families should not expect the bus to always arrive in time for after school activities.

No. Registered bus riders are the only students permitted to take a bus to or from school and it must be their assigned bus.

Unfortunately, we are not able to accommodate parents or guardians riding the bus at this time.

If families move to an area that is served by one of our existing routes, we may be able to change their bus assignment mid-year, provided there is space on the new route. Please communicate with Transportation Coordinator Sharifah Taylor about any moving plans well in advance, so she can work to accommodate families.

If families know in advance that their child/ren will not be riding the afternoon bus on a given day, please email that information to staylor@berkeleycarroll.org by 2:00 p.m. If plans change during the school day after 2:00 p.m., please call the school directly to share updated information. The contact numbers for the school are as follows:

Lower School: (718) 534-6601
Middle School: (718) 534-6535

Morning plans do not need to be shared with Sharifah Taylor or the bus monitor.
 

Traffic can be unpredictable in the mornings and afternoons, so families can expect that buses may occasionally be late to pick up or drop off students. If this is the case, families will receive notification via email from the Transportation Coordinator.

Please direct any questions and concerns to Transportation Coordinator Sharifah Taylor via email at transportation@berkeleycarroll.org or by phone (718) 534-6539.