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Transportation and traffic flow guidelines

Will my child ride a bus to Falk School? 

The Pittsburgh Board of Education provides bus or van transport for children of city residents who live more than one and one half miles from school, to and from school, throughout the 2010-2011 school year. 

Suburban school districts that are located within a ten-mile radius of Falk School also provide bus or van transport for children of district residents.

This obligation to provide transportation is stipulated in Pennsylvania state law.  This means that the Falk School office does not plan the bus routes nor schedule the pickup points for the children.  The transportation offices of the respective school districts do this planning.   Parents of city students are notified by the Board of Education of their route at least 2 weeks prior to the start of school.  If you do not receive notification, contact Ms. Kelly Maddox (412-383-7026 or kmaddox@pitt.edu).

Families residing within other school districts should check with their district office but in general, these families are responsible for transporting their child (ren) to and from Falk School each day.

Where do I drop-ff and pick-up my child each day?

Because the safety of children is a responsibility that must be shared by all of the adults associated with the school, there are guidelines for adults who drop off or pick up children at Falk:

Stop signs help to control the speed of vehicles as they approach and pass the school.  Please adhere.

There is NO PARKING on Allequippa Street at any time. 

Morning arrivals

  • Classrooms are open for student arrivals at 8:15 A.M.  If students arrive earlier, parents must sign them into the before school program. 
  • Busses arrive at staggered times and utilize the Bus Lane located in front of the basketball courts.  A teacher meets each bus and escorts the students into the building. For traffic flow, cars should NOT offload in the bus lane.
  • Car arrivals should offload in the Governor’s Drive located in front of the building.  Teachers are there to monitor student arrivals.
  • Traffic should enter from the south and exit at the north. There is a right turn only at the exit end of the Governor’s Drive. Please adhere.
  • If walking your child into the building, please park as close to the curb on the school side as possible.  This allows other traffic to drop off children in the left lane and exit the drive. Never leave younger children in a parked car while escorting older children into the school.  
  • Cars should NEVER offload children so that they have to cross Allequippa Street.

Afternoon pick-ups

  • Bus dismissal begins at 3:15pm
  • Busses begin filling both the Governor’s Drive and the bus lane at around 2:15PM. Thus, any parked cars must vacate these lanes by 2:00pm.
  • Children will be walked to the busses and supervised until the bus is loaded. 
  • If your family situation requires that your child use a different drop-off site on the bus ride home, the transportation department requires you to complete the Request for PM Drop-off form (pdf). Please return it to the Falk School main office.  
  • Carpool dismissal begins at 3:20pm.
  • When the final bus has departed, we begin staging carpool students.  Parents should approach the Bus Lane from the south, forming a single line next to the school side curb.  Drivers will then be signalled to move into the Governor’s Lane by one of our teachers.  As children are walked to the waiting cars, drivers will be motioned forward toward the north end of the Drive.  The lane is wide enough to have two cars parked side-by-side; however, for safety reasons we will only load students from the right hand lane.  Again, when exiting the Governor’s Drive you may only turn right. 
  • Any car pool students still waiting for pick up at 3:30PM will automatically be sent to the Afterschool Program, where normal Afterschool sign-out procedures will apply.

Daytime visits and parking 

  • If you are visiting the school during the day there are 17 spaces along Lower University Drive that are designated as Falk School Parking.
  • Pull into the Governor’s Lane and obtain a hangtag permit from the reception desk.
  • Move your car onto Lower University Drive and display the hangtag from your mirror.  If you do not have a tag displayed, or if you park beyond the spots designated for Falk School you may be ticketed by the University of Pittsburgh Police.
  • If you are visiting the school between the hours of 9:00AM and 2:00PM you can also park in the Bus Lane or in the Governor’s Drive during the day as well. Please keep the left lane open for through traffic.  Both these lanes must be cleared by 2:00PM when the busses being arriving for dismissal.