Daily Bus

If we can assist you in getting your bus form turned in, please contact our office at 734/941-1750.

2024-2025 Summit Academy North Bus Registration

NEW BUS RIDERS – PLEASE READ THIS SECTION-VERY IMPORTANT (Further updates pending)

If you are a new student to Summit Academy, or new simply to bus registration, there are a few rules I would like you to be aware of. Since the advent of the COVID-19 virus, transportation rules have changed immensely. Bus registration is now being done online and can be accessed by utilizing the button above. The transportation department has been taking the time to prepare routes and bus rosters for the upcoming school year and while COVID is still a minor health concern, rules regarding COVID are not nearly as stringent as the past few years.

How does this still affect the bus ride? During this last two years, the number of bus riders was reduced in most locations and hence there were substantial changes to the bus runs. We were required to follow safety protocols including face masks, using hand sanitizer and the almost continual spraying and sanitizing of the school buses. As well, contact tracing was an essential on the bus when a positive case was identified.  We have returned to a bit more conventional method of transportation so that masks and hand sanitizer are longer required, although each school bus will still carry these items for student use if requested.  Mandatory use could be reinstituted if the DHHS deemed it necessary, but as of this moment, there is no such a need.

We do plan to continue deep cleaning the school buses as well, hopefully on a weekly basis.  Some assigned seating may still be required, but in all cases, the Summit Academy North transportation department will follow any protocol requested by the local DHHS.   If you have any further questions regarding this, please feel free to contact my office at (734) 941-1750.

If your elementary age child (K-5) is assigned to a bus, please carry a picture ID with you for afternoon delivery, at least until the driver becomes familiar with you and your child. The drivers will strive for timeliness, but NEVER at the expense of safety. Please be at the bus hub five minutes prior to the drivers estimated arrival time for both mornings and afternoons, not only for the sake of timely departures, but more importantly – AND I CAN’T SAY THIS WITH ENOUGH EMPHASIS – to protect our children from rushing and frantic drivers who are late to the bus. A 3000-pound car is just as dangerous in a store or church parking lot as it can be on the road. Please understand that the drivers are directed to leave morning pick up locations on time, and once they have engaged their bus, they are not to stop the bus for any reason other than those issues which would compromise the safety of the riders enroute. Please DO NOT cut the bus off, or rush through the bus hub locations simply because you have arrived late, as you could inadvertently harm a child, including your own. On these occasions, it is always better that you transport your child rather than compromise the safety of the bus by approaching a moving bus or approaching the bus on the road and in traffic. We also will not hold a bus at a hub in the morning because you as a parent are running late and have been able to reach our office. The school bus timeliness is difficult to keep and is dependent upon multiple families and staff combined.  If your child’s bus makes a stop for every late family, it would then be common that buses arrive late to school and this is not acceptable.

Afternoon pickup can be difficult because while it is the goal of this department to deliver your child to you safely, and on time, afternoon traffic and late pickup contacts are not always cooperative. We try to give every family as much consideration as we can, but there is always a strong possibility that your child will be returned to their school if the “student pick-up” cannot be resolved in a timely manner (usually five minutes or less.) In many cases, the driver and other families are dependent upon parents at a prior delivery location to be there to receive their children so that the run can continue and deliver a second or third stop on time. Thus, running late not only affects your child because now the transportation office is calling home to see if there is a problem, but potentially effects the driver and parents at the next delivery location who may be dependent on that bus being on time as well. Thanks to all of our families in advance for being aware of others and making their best effort to keep the bus schedules moving in the right direction by being at the bus hubs five minutes prior to pick up and estimated delivery times.

Daily Bus Rider Information

The 2024-2025 bus emergency forms are available using the link at the top of the page for new bus riders and new students interested in transportation. Sign up information for re-enrolling bus students was mailed on June 3, 2024, with a requested return date of June 17, 2024.  Two other mailers have occurred since that time, the first on June 26nd and again on July 17th, attempting to get returning bus riders registered.  It is expected that you will register each individual child every year so that the transportation department always has the most current information on file.  This information could be vital in the event of an accident or to make sure that we can reach a parent or important contact in any type of emergency.

As you begin to look at pickup and drop off locations, please know that in the 2024-2025 school year, we have deleted a location in Flat Rock at Huron Baptist Church, just south of Gibraltar Road on Olmstead Road in Flat Rock and Grace Moravian in Westland on Merriman and Hively.  We are currently searching for a replacement for the Westland location and Flat Rock will continue to be serviced by the Meijer Store on Vreeland.   If you are not sure of the bus hub your student may need, you can find the master map by clicking on the button just below:

Map of All Bus Hubs

In a normal year, students are assigned based on the location that was requested and confirmation letters begin after the early August cutoff date for assigning returning riders (this year that date is August 1st.) After August 1st, assigning ridership is based on a first come and first served basis. It is important that your student ride the bus that they are assigned to as each bus is destination specific. As well, seating may be very limited as each bus travels to specific locations and it is VITAL that we adhere to the authorized rider lists.  This means that we still are not able to give bus passes for additional riders and your bus riders will have a specific bus hub assignment. In only very rare cases can we allow a rider to go on multiple buses.  It is then your choice if they ride.   Thank you in advance to our parents for your help in making sure your student gets on and rides the correct bus!!!

For each bus individually, the first morning pickup departure time is typically adhered to as it is essential to the bus arriving at school on time. However, the first month of school is always the worst for afternoon delivery, as traffic patterns in and around the schools will take time to normalize. During that time, as things settle back into familiar patterns, the buses will sometimes be late, and possibly very late. We ask that during this adjustment, please be patient with the bus department and drivers. Not only do we sometimes have new drivers, but we also have new students and parents in our lots who are learning a whole new system of pick up and drop off. As the year advances, things will settle into a pattern we all recognize and can be functional with. We have been transporting students since the 2001-2002 school year, and every year, as we grow, we must overcome the logistical challenge set before us. We look forward to working with our students this year and hope that we can provide to you as a parent, a consistent and timely ability to assist you in transporting your child to school.

Last but not least, please be aware that some bus runs may change mid-year so that we are keeping our bus runs on time, but also so that we are being efficient in getting the students home as early as possible. Most of you will likely remember that there was a modification to the prior year’s runs, and that some of those students who were not utilizing the buses on a more frequent basis were dropped from the bus rosters. We track our ridership daily and I want to encourage our registered bus riders to utilize the bus on a more frequent basis so that we can assume our numbers are correct and keep them registered. Does this mean they must ride daily? Not necessarily, but we do need to understand if there is a need so that we can be efficient in bus and bus hub placement as well.

Bus Safety

The picture to the left gives you an idea of what the bus driver sees every day as children approach the bus. This picture was taken from the cabin of a Thomas C2 school bus like the one your children ride everyday. With that being said, please notice the blind spot caused by the window rail or how fast a child can disappear beneath the front view over the hood. Think how quickly that same child can dart in and out of traffic in a Meijers or church parking lot and not even be seen until they run out in front of moving bus, or YOUR car. These are our children, and while everyone is trying to meet a schedule of some sort (bus drivers and parents alike,) is that extra few seconds it takes to be safe and slow down in the bus hub area worth more than a child’s life? I certainly hope so, as each school bus has a “Danger Zone,” an area that surrounds the school bus in which the driver may or may not be able to see a child. School bus drivers are taught to monitor their mirrors, but even then, any child that steps into that area surrounding the school bus is endangering themself.

As you can see here in the picture to the right, there is a “DANGER ZONE” that surrounds each school bus. It is that area in which a student could be injured simply by standing there when the bus has to move. Please, I encourage all parents to review this picture with their children. It is imperative that they don’t crowd the bus, and move to the door in single file, hopefully so that no child is overlooked or walks into the danger zone. In the past, as I have driven the bus, I have discovered that we have some parents that feel they must drop their child directly at the service door of the bus from their vehicle. Please know that this behavior is severely frowned upon as it is unsafe for everyone except that single child who is going two feet from the car door to the bus door, BUT the track of the car to get to the point of drop off is dangerous for other parents and students alike. Please take these other riders into consideration.More to come here -please stay tuned!!!

Bus Expectations and Rules

It is expected that each bus rider will be diligent not only to safely ride the bus, but respectful to the driver as well. It is expected that normal and reasonable requests by the bus driver will be adhered to. Each driver has a huge responsibility to drive a school bus loaded with your most precious cargo, and must be able to do this job with minimal distraction. It is up to the students to help make a daily bus ride the most pleasant and efficient ride possible. Listed below are the bus rules that are posted in each bus:

BUS RULES

1. You are required to follow the school code of conduct, as the bus is considered school property.
2. No eating or drinking on the bus and please throw trash away.
3. Do not damage the bus, seats, or equipment.
4. Sit down in the seat and stay seated, and keep a clear aisle.
5. Keep all personal body parts inside the bus. No arms, hands, head or feet outside the windows.
6. Music played from a handheld device must be played via headphones or ear buds and not be audible to other students.
7. NO throwing of any item in the bus or out bus windows.
8. Keep the bus a “scent free” environment (Do not open perfumes, colognes, and nail polish).
9. The driver may assign seats at his/her discretion.
10. As the school representative, the driver may establish other rules as needed to maintain the safe transportation of the bus.

FAILURE TO FOLLOW THE ABOVE RULES OR THE  CODE OF CONDUCT COULD RESULT IN SUSPENSION OF YOUR BUS PRIVILEGES.

Summit Academy Schools – 100% Passing
Bus Inspection Certificate – 2021-2022 school year.