My TPMS middle schooler has gotten on different buses to visit friends or go to activities after school. His friends also switch buses all the time. Those buses are the same ones used for the Blair magnet, i.e., the middle schoolers are on the bus with high schoolers. He has never been questioned about being on a different bus.

As for public transit, any student can get a free bus pass allowing them to take the MoCo RideOn bus for free. This does not apply to DC Metro buses, but the pass can be loaded with funds to use on DC transit. Get the Youth Cruiser card, and it's good until high school graduation. https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/DOT-Transit/KidsRideFree/index.html

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure they can ride whichever bus they want? There have definitely been years in which my kid’s school buses were crowded and kids were not allowed to ride buses other than their assigned one.

MCPS does not assign buses except for non mainstream special education and transport from home school to other program like vo tech at Edison.

MCPS DOES assign busses. You can contact your school’s administration or your bus depot to see what bus your student is assigned to.

Kids are not bound to a particular bus. There is no time that you have to take a particular bus.

My kids went to schools that had very full buses, and students were prohibited from taking a bus that was not their usual school/home route. No going home with friends.

That's true for many children going to their local schools. Our child has never had a bus assignment at the magnets.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure they can ride whichever bus they want? There have definitely been years in which my kid’s school buses were crowded and kids were not allowed to ride buses other than their assigned one.

MCPS does not assign buses except for non mainstream special education and transport from home school to other program like vo tech at Edison.

MCPS DOES assign busses. You can contact your school’s administration or your bus depot to see what bus your student is assigned to.

MCPS doesn't assign buses for the Blair Magnet. Our DC takes different buses different days.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure they can ride whichever bus they want? There have definitely been years in which my kid’s school buses were crowded and kids were not allowed to ride buses other than their assigned one.

MCPS does not assign buses except for non mainstream special education and transport from home school to other program like vo tech at Edison.

MCPS DOES assign busses. You can contact your school’s administration or your bus depot to see what bus your student is assigned to.

Kids are not bound to a particular bus. There is no time that you have to take a particular bus.

My kids went to schools that had very full buses, and students were prohibited from taking a bus that was not their usual school/home route. No going home with friends.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure they can ride whichever bus they want? There have definitely been years in which my kid’s school buses were crowded and kids were not allowed to ride buses other than their assigned one.

MCPS does not assign buses except for non mainstream special education and transport from home school to other program like vo tech at Edison.

MCPS DOES assign busses. You can contact your school’s administration or your bus depot to see what bus your student is assigned to.

Kids are not bound to a particular bus. There is no time that you have to take a particular bus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure they can ride whichever bus they want? There have definitely been years in which my kid’s school buses were crowded and kids were not allowed to ride buses other than their assigned one.

MCPS does not assign buses except for non mainstream special education and transport from home school to other program like vo tech at Edison.

MCPS DOES assign busses. You can contact your school’s administration or your bus depot to see what bus your student is assigned to.

Anonymous wrote:i am looking for a map (google map?) of MCPS bus routes. Does any one know of such map or a tool? We are moving across county and are trying to organize kids' after-school activities. DC is going to Blair STEM program and will need to end at different locations depending the day.

Wait until the fall bus routes are published, then look specifically at the different magnet bus routes. The magnet buses use stops like ES/MS schools, community centers, libraries, etc. I've had kids at both Poolesville and RM, and they took different buses to get themselves to activities or to just be somewhere easier to pick them up from (I'm thinking the PV late bus especially.)

It is also the time to teach your kids to use the public bus and metro system. Kids ride free (there is a student pass) on the buses, and just get them a metro card that auto-refills. Navigating public transit is a good life skill and pretty useful in this area.

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure they can ride whichever bus they want? There have definitely been years in which my kid’s school buses were crowded and kids were not allowed to ride buses other than their assigned one.

MCPS does not assign buses except for non mainstream special education and transport from home school to other program like vo tech at Edison.

Anonymous wrote:How did your child get a Blair STEM slot from cross country?

I assumed they meant Wootton or Sherwood or somewhere else within Blair's catchment but quite far from Blair.

How did your child get a Blair STEM slot from cross country?

Anonymous wrote:They don't have a map of the stops but they list them by junction and you can reference a map.

You can find them by schools listed on this link

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/transportation/busroutes/

Thx!

Are you sure they can ride whichever bus they want? There have definitely been years in which my kid’s school buses were crowded and kids were not allowed to ride buses other than their assigned one.

Your kid could also take the Metrobus from Blair, it might be faster/more direct depending on where you’re going.

They don't have a map of the stops but they list them by junction and you can reference a map.

You can find them by schools listed on this link

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/transportation/busroutes/

i am looking for a map (google map?) of MCPS bus routes. Does any one know of such map or a tool? We are moving across county and are trying to organize kids' after-school activities. DC is going to Blair STEM program and will need to end at different locations depending the day.