Form a Parents Car Pool

With so much to do as a parent and so little time to get it done, it makes a lot of sense to partner with other parents in consolidating efforts. For this reason, many parents choose to organize a Carpool so that they can support each other in driving their children to and from school. How to form a parents' Carpool is not that difficult of a task, but only if you consider certain steps in the process.

Steps

  1. Select parents who are reliable when organizing a successful Carpool. These people will be driving your children around so you want to choose people who are not always late for school. Additionally, unreliable parents may back out at the last minute and leave you and others in the Carpool in a bind and scrambling to find alternative plans.
  2. Meet with all the parents to create a Carpool schedule that is fair to everyone. Confirm times for both drop-off and pick-up and try to allow for a couple days off for everyone. Make sure everyone knows what "drop-off" and "pick-up" means. Organize this information into a neat spreadsheet and make sure everyone has a copy.
  3. Create a list of all parent phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Include the phone numbers of all the children in the Carpool who have cell phones also. Set ground rules regarding checking up on your children. Parents should be allowed to check in, but not so much that they are harassing the parent driving that day.
  4. Establish the ground rules and back-up plans with parents beforehand so there is no confusion later on. For example, decide what the Carpool protocol is if a parent or child is sick or during vacations. You may want to make a point of sending out an e-mail every Sunday confirming that there are no changes. Include driving rules, such as not texting, not using a cell phone without an ear piece, and not speeding.
  5. Include rules that the children need to abide by when riding the Carpool. For example, request that children refrain from being loud and that they stay buckled. After discussing these rules with the parents, ask that they discuss them with their children also.
  6. Expect that the parent driving always waits for children to either enter the school premises or building, and the child's home, before driving off.
  7. Plan a Carpool route that avoids too much traffic. You can also include alternate routes. This will make the journey less stressful. If your parents are reliable, you should pretty much know where they would be at any given time.

Tips

  • All parents should maintain the same expectations of each other and the children if your Carpool is to be a success. Additionally, children will respond with better behavior if it is expected by each parent equally.