HopSkipDrive provides pandemic pod transportation

Faced with tough choices to continue distance learning or send children back to school without truly knowing how COVID-19 will spread with new social distancing guidelines, many families are forming ‘pandemic pods’ or ‘micro-schools.’ 

Pandemic pods are usually capped at 10 children, with parents sharing the cost of a teacher. Pods provide a safer schooling option, which enables kids to learn among their peers. They also offer working parents a break. 

With smaller student numbers to begin with, and flexibility from regulation that public schools simply don’t have, some private schools are opening and seeing an increase in enrollment. For much of the same reasons, daycares and preschools are also opening.

There are a few considerations with pandemic pods, private schools and daycare centers:

1. 1. Pod-specific: 
      1. Has your pod agreed on the qualities you are/were looking for in a teacher?
      2. Have you done a background check on the teacher? Who else will be in the house with the teacher?
   2. For all back-to-school options:
      1. Are you comfortable with the number of children? The fewer the children in the pod, the less chance of infection but the higher the cost.
      2. Have you agreed on the safety practices all families will follow? 
      3. Is the teacher willing to follow these practices?

AND without the transportation options offered by schools, how will you get your children to and from their new ‘school?’

HopSkipDrive can help with pandemic pod, private school and any other childcare transportation needs. 

We’re a safe youth transportation solution many busy families use to get their children where they need to go. We’re known for our rigorous safety standards — from a 15-point CareDriver certification process to real-time ride monitoring in the app.

We’re also incredibly rigorous when it comes to our community’s health. Our COVID-Safe Ride Standards are some of the most stringent in the industry, with requirements like plastic dividers between front and back seats.

COVID-Safe Ride Standards include:

• CareDrivers to wear face coverings and PPE.
• CareDrivers to affirm they are healthy, and haven’t come into contact with a potentially infected person, every day they are planning on giving rides.
• CareDrivers to fully disinfect the vehicle between each ride, and affirm they did so before picking Riders up.
• Plastic dividers between front and back seats (don’t worry, we’ve accounted for communication between CareDrivers and Riders, as well as air flow).

In addition, we invited public health outcomes expert, Dr. NanaEfua B. Afoh-Manin, MD, MPH, to join our Safety Advisory Board. She guides us in our COVID-19 safety requirements, and will help drive any further innovation.

Learn more about our COVID-Safe Ride Standards.