An unfortunate day for sixth grader Luna Dopazo starts with warm covers and a ringing alarm. She opens her eyes and checks her phone. It’s 6:30 a.m.. She’s running late. She jolts out of bed and gets dressed in seconds; there’s no time to eat. It’s 6:45 a.m., and she still has 10 pages to read before school. She finishes at 7:00 a.m. and gets to the bus stop, only half awake, but it is too late; she has missed the bus.
While the current Pierce School building is under construction for renovations, kindergarten to fifth grade students learn at the Old Lincoln School and sixth to eighth grade students go to Fisher Hill. Students must get a ride or take buses to the new school locations. Students who take the bus depart from the Brookline Public Library in the morning and take it home right after school or take a later bus to accommodate for after-school activities.
Vice Principal of the temporary Fisher Hill school Jim Stoddard said that the town has addressed issues surrounding the buses in the mornings after challenges last year.
“There was a lot of fear and concern from some kids and from a lot of parents about taking the bus. So the town was great in that they, for this year, actually gave us an additional bus in the mornings, so that the buses weren’t as crowded,” Stoddard said.
According to Stoddard, despite the new school location being further from most of its students, he has not noticed a decrease in the students’ punctuality, thanks to buses.
“In general, it’s been really helpful because of the buses,” Stoddard said. “We still have some kids that are coming in late, but it’s been a cleaner start to the day because we have so many kids here from the buses, and then when the bell rings, they’re actually at this building.”
Dopazo, who takes the bus in the morning, said she noticed a difference in her morning routines due to the bus’ 7:30 a.m. departure to Fisher Hill. Dopazo said the early morning bus times have caused her to struggle in the mornings.
“I have a really hard thing with waking up late and almost missing my bus,” Dopazo said. “ I do get very tired and feel rushed because I have to finish my homework and do last-minute work.”
Stoddard said teachers who teach at both the Fisher Hill and Old Lincoln School sometimes struggle with the mid-day commute between the two and finding parking. However, he said the school has learned to accommodate these challenges.
“Up here [at Fisher Hill], there’s plenty of room to park, so it’s not an issue, but parking at OLS is really tight, so that is a challenge. We built extra time into [teacher] schedules to give them the opportunity to do that,” Stoddard said. “It’s just a hard day to be bouncing back and forth and not having all of your stuff in one building, but I think in general it’s pretty smooth.”
According to fifth-grade teacher Melissa London, teachers who do not have to go between both buildings are not significantly inconvenienced by the new commute. London said she only experiences minimal trouble getting to school in the mornings.
“It’s added a little bit of time to my commute, probably an additional seven to ten minutes, so it’s not terrible. There’s no underground parking, so snow and ice can be a little bit treacherous, but I’m always able to get parking,” London said.
Despite the longer commute and the need to wake up earlier, Stoddard said that he does not notice a significant difference in students’ readiness to learn in the mornings, and is helping those who still need to adjust to the new system.
“We have worked with some families for kids that have had significant challenges, and we’re able to change the bus assignments from time to time to help out those families,” Stoddard said. “We reach out to all the different people that work with our kids to see if there are special situations to help kids out.”
Fourth grader Victoria Collins who attends the Old Lincoln School says her mornings have not changed much during reconstruction, but crossing route nine has posed some problems to the students.
“It’s kind of the same. I am walking farther, but I’m waking up at the same time. The hardest part is crossing route nine, because some people just don’t know how to drive,” Collins said.
London said she is also concerned about the children crossing Boylston Street and that the crossing guards are crucial for guiding students across the road.
“It’s hugely important that we have crossing guards who are navigating the lights because route nine is terrifying,” London said. “I think that’s important for people to make sure that we have crossing guards and that little kids are being guided by either older siblings, babysitters or guardians.”
Stoddard said that despite some of the challenges students and staff face with commuting to the new Pierce school buildings, they have grown accustomed to the commute and are fitting into the new schools.
“I think both schools are functioning really well, and the kids have done a great job adjusting to the routines,” Stoddard said. “There was a lot of fear, apprehension and uncertainty a couple of years ago because nobody knew what this was going to be like, but it seems to be working out pretty well that the kids are happy in both locations.”
