Hello Haverhill Families,

We hope this message finds you well; the students are in school and have settled into their first day. It is great having them back.

Our Transportation Department manages 70 (HPS/NRT) buses and 8,605 students within the Haverhill School District. If your child takes bus transportation to school, we would like to remind you of the School Committee Approved list of walk zones:

Grades K-5, 1 Mile

Grades 6-8, 1.5 Miles

Grades 9-12, 2 Miles

We want to ensure you have all the necessary information to make the school transportation experience as smooth as possible for you and your children.

1. Bus Stop Locations: Bus stops are assigned based on our District’s guidelines using students registration address, school locations as well as School Committee-approved stops; we strive to make them as convenient as possible while ensuring student safety. If you have any concerns about the location of your child’s bus stop, please fill out our Parent Bus Concerns form with our Transportation Department.

2. Bus Routes: Families should have received an email from the Transportation Department with information regarding the student(s) assigned bus number and pick-up/drop-off times. If you did not receive this email, please get in touch with the Transportation Department at transportation@haverhill-ps.org. Please understand that we sometimes run into delays due to traffic, construction, weather, and staffing. When this happens, we will send out updates as soon as we receive them through the school’s communication channels. .

3. Safety Policies:
   

• Arrival Time: Please ensure your child arrives at the bus stop 5 minutes before the scheduled pick-up time.
  

• Bus Conduct: The Transportation Department has expectations from students, parents, and bus drivers. This helps to ensure everyone’s safety. To view a list of these responsibilities, visit our website.
  

• Weather Conditions: In inclement weather, bus schedule delays or changes may occur. We will provide those updates through our school’s communication channels.
  
  
• ZPass: Last year, HPS initiated the ZPass identification system; please encourage your child to swipe their ZPass ID Card when boarding and disembarking the bus. If your child still has their ZPass from last year, they can continue using it. A ZPass will be assigned to those students without one in the near future. Using the ZPass gives our Transportation Department the information on when and where a child boards and leaves a bus.

4. Contact Information: We encourage you to update any physical address changes with the Registration Department. You can fill out a change of address form online. Please note that your child’s School may change depending on the location of your new address. For changes in email addresses or phone numbers, please contact the main office of your child’s School. For any questions or concerns regarding bus routes or schedules, please get in touch with our Transportation Department using the Parent Bus Concerns form or email transportation@haverhill-ps.org.

   We appreciate your cooperation and understanding as we work to provide safe and efficient transportation for all our students. Thank you for your continued support.
   

Haverhill Public Schools