The arrival of a new bus at GVP, which went into operation at the start of this school year, has had an immense impact on everyone at our school. The new bus, a 44-seater vehicle, has facilitated the transportation of students between home and school. The bus program, which formerly included two 14-seater buses, only allowed for two roundtrips in the mornings and afternoons to pick up and drop off students. This meant that some students had to arrive very early and others had to leave school late. This cadence had its impact on staff and teachers, as it required them to also arrive to school early or staff late to supervise students.

“We have more time now in the mornings and afternoons to prepare for students in their absence,” said Ms. Olivia, the ELA teacher. “It’s also nice to be able to greet the whole school at once in the mornings. It feels like a real start to the day. It also feels good to be able to close the school day with one big goodbye instead of the lingering end of the day we had before.”

In the new bus program, the larger bus transports 30 students who live in Clarkston, while the smaller bus does a route to Stone Mountain, which is a new and growing district for GVP, bringing 13 students from that neighborhood to school.

For students, it also helps to have a bigger bus because it shortens their days, which means they can wake up at a more reasonable time and leave school together. “I like the bus,” said one student, “I like being on the bus with all my friends. We can all be together and we don’t waste time.”

The new bus was funded with a grant from the Ruth S. Coleman Charitable Fund.

Funding for the operation of the bus program is provided by The Atlanta Women’s Foundation.