With school now in session or starting soon, you may be wondering how to get your children to school each and every day in a manner that is both convenient for you and healthy to the environment.  Why not load up your car or van with other kids from the neighborhood and ask neighbors to rotate/take turns?  Organizing a Carpool Schedule doesn’t have to be overwhelming.  You just need a few willing participants and a little delegation to make it all happen.

photo by Ivy Dawned

• Make a List of Kids – If you have several kids that want to carpool, then you will either need drivers with mini-vans or you will need to organize 2 different carpools.
• Make a List of Drivers – Include names, email addresses, telephone numbers (home and cell), and as a precaution, have each driver make a copy of their auto insurance card.  
• Create a Map of Pickups and Dropoffs – This will make things quick and easy as the school year gets started.  Don’t leave your fellow drivers guessing where each kid lives.  Include the quickest route to school from your neighborhood.
• Assign Morning and Afternoon Drives – Get a schedule from each of your drivers to decide which days are best for carpooling and then assign them a slot.  To be on the safe side, have a backup driver for each slot as well.

What are your carpool tips and tricks?

ListPlanIt.com has many tools and resources available for families preparing to go back to school, including a brand new Carpool Schedule and Carpool Signup page (see in Student Planning). Get everything you need with a membership to all that ListPlanIt has to offer or instantly download the pages you need in our updated Student ePlanner.