Your child's driver, your child's route, and one number that is always answered.
The same driver and monitor pick your child up at the same time every school day. If anything changes, dispatch calls you first.
Before the first ride
Four things happen before the van comes to your door. None of them take long.
- Meet the driver and monitor
We come to your home or your child's school before the first day. Your child sees the van, meets the people, and picks a seat.
- Get your route sheet
One page with your pickup time, drop-off time, van number, and the driver's and monitor's first names. Keep it on the fridge.
- Fill in the emergency contact form
Two people we can call if we cannot reach you, plus anything the driver should know about your child on a hard morning.
- Check the seat
Car seat, harness, or wheelchair securement is fitted to your child before the first ride, not on it. Bring the wheelchair to the meet-and-greet if you can.
Pickup and drop-off rules
The same rules for every family, so every route runs on time.
- Be ready five minutes early
- Shoes on, backpack packed, at the door. The van keeps to a schedule for the other students on the route.
- The van waits five minutes
- After five minutes the driver moves on and dispatch calls you. We will not leave without calling.
- An adult at drop-off
- If your child's IEP says a responsible adult must receive them, the monitor will not release your child to an empty house. Tell us who is allowed to meet the van.
- No food, drinks, or pets
- Water bottles are fine. Everything else stays home so the van stays clean and safe for students with allergies.
- Belongings
- Backpacks ride on laps or under the seat. Large items like instruments or projects need a heads-up to dispatch the day before.
- Weather
- We follow your district's delays and closures. If the district opens two hours late, pickup is two hours late.
- Changes by 8 PM the night before
- Call dispatch to skip a day, change an address, or add a pickup. Changes by phone only, so nothing gets lost.
Arrival texts and who to call
You get a text when your child arrives at school in the morning and when they are dropped off in the afternoon. If a van will be more than ten minutes late, dispatch calls you before you have to call us.
Who rides with your child
Your driver
Holds a Massachusetts 7D certificate, which means a background check, a physical, and a road test in a student van. Trained in CPR and first aid. Assigned to your route for the whole school year.
Your monitor
Rides on every wheelchair route and on any route where the IEP asks for one. Same background checks as the driver, trained on seat belts, harnesses, tie-downs, and your child's behavior plan.
Substitutes
When your driver is out, a substitute who has already been introduced to your child takes the route. You get a text with their name the night before, or a call in the morning if it is sudden.
Questions parents ask
Can I ride along on the first day?
Yes. Ask your district's transportation office and they will arrange it with us. Most families ride the first morning and let the afternoon run on its own.
Can the driver carry my child's medication?
No. Drivers and monitors never carry or give medication. It travels with you to the school nurse, who keeps it during the day. Epinephrine for a known allergy is the one exception, and only when the IEP and the district set it up with us.
My child left something on the van.
Call dispatch. The driver checks the van after every run and anything found stays on the van, so your child gets it back on the next ride.
What happens on snow days?
We follow your district. Cancelled means no van. Delayed means pickup moves by the same number of hours. If your district is open but our yard decides a road is unsafe, dispatch calls you and the school.
My child has hard mornings.
Tell us before the first ride. The monitor follows the behavior plan in the IEP and learns what helps your child settle. If a morning is not working, the monitor calls dispatch and dispatch calls you. No one is left on the curb.
How do I compliment or complain about a driver?
Call dispatch or email info@callavra.com with the route number from your route sheet. Compliments go to the driver that day. Complaints go to the operations manager, who calls you back within one school day.
Have a question about your route?
Dispatch answers from 5:30 AM to 6:30 PM on school days. Email for anything that can wait until tomorrow.
Your school district arranges and pays for transportation under your child's IEP. If you need service that is not set up yet, start with your district's special education office. Districts can read how we work with districts.