How far do you and your kids walk to school?

[jess_g]

We have about a 5 block walk to school which realy is not bad. It takes us about 15 minutes each way and my son loves walking.

Our town has a rule that says that kids can only ride the bus if they live 2 miles or more from the school so not many kids ride the bus (some do to the middle or high school but no one does to the elementary schools here). I am wondering what your town/city/state rules are for riding the bus and how long you walk to school each morning. Its not realy an issue right now but when my son goes on to middle school its going to be a long walk (if he walks). I think it will be close to 25 minutes each way so I am sure I will end up driving him.

Jessica.

[happymomma]

Our county rule is that if your house is more than 1 mile from the school, then a school bus will be provided. We live 3/4 miles from school and when I have the time, my daughter and I will walk to pick up my son. So my 4 year old DD will walk almost 1 1/2 miles. It doesn't seem too hard for her. Sometimes it's alittle more challenging because the last 100 yards is uphill.

[billysmommy]

Ours is 1 mile away for a bus also.
We are very lucky.....Ds1's elementary school is right through the woods behind our house so it's about a 3-4 minute walk. He'll take the bus to middle school and then the high school is right across the street from us so he'll walk again then.

[KrisM]

We're just over a mile and he's bussed. If there wasn't a semi-busy road in between, I'd let him walk it. In 3rd grade, the school is maybe 1/2 mile and on our side of the busy road. They're bussed, but most kids walk. I'm sure I'll have some kids on the bus and some walking at various points.

The middle school and high school are both 5-6 miles away, so busses for that. However, it's the same bus. They pick up all the kids, drop off the high school and then drop off the middle school. Reverse in the PM. So, middle school kids are on about 50 minutes in the morning and high school 50 in the afternoon. Many kids get driven.

[Moneypenny]

DH walks DD to and from school - 3 blocks. Our district will bus any student, even if they live right across the street from the school. They are actually pretty adamant about wanting every student on the bus because it keeps traffic congestion down and the parking lots safer. Since we live so close, though, we only put DD on the bus when it's very very cold.

[elliput]

While DD's school is about 1/3 of a mile away as the crow flies, she rides the bus. There is a busy freeway between us and the school, and DD is a special ed student. Only about 10% of the area that DD's school serves is walkable due to the freeway.

[wellyes]

DD isn't in school yet but we're less than a mile from all the schools she'll be in, so we'll be walking and/or driving. It's a very walkable neighborhood which is nice. I've seen middle schoolers walk home together in packs.

[belovedgandp]

The school district will bus for free if you're more than 2 1/2 miles from the elementary school We are in a very suburban area and very few people meet that criteria. I think I can get to at least 6 elementary schools in less than 2 1/2 miles from my front door. But, anyone can pay for the bus if they want.

We are exactly a mile door to door. When I didn't have afternoon nappers, I'd walk up for them to walk home with me from school. It's just far enough that it takes too long in the morning and if we have activities right after school. So we drive and carpool most of the time.