School Is Back

School is back in session as of a week or so ago. What that means to me, is that I have to pass not one, not two, but three schools in a two mile period.

I bought a house just a block away from the future Elementary school that my son ended up going to. We loved the fact that I could walk him down the street and watch him cross over to the school. It was perfect.

He then moved onto Junior High, which is down the hill and about a half mile east of the bottom of the hill. Unfortunately for all of us, there is another Elementary school right before the Junior High.

They try to stagger the start times for the two schools, but it just doesn't work out well. One starts at 7:45AM and the other at 8:00AM. When I am passing this area (at 7:30AM), it is prime time for BOTH schools. Junior High is way into their drop offs and Elementary has just begun, though parents with children in both schools are also dealing with their duel duty. The final thing going on, is that it has 3 crossing guards working in that intersection. That just adds to the madness.

Honestly, what they really need is an overpass to safely get the children through the intersection that becomes a bottleneck.

Last July, I actually saw several schools in Modesto, that have overpasses and I believe it is a very smart idea. Keep the kids away from the cars. I doubt though, that I will live to see the day when they can make this area safer and better, for all of us.

The photo is of Seco Canyon Road, which is the low spot between 2 mountains and yes, a river (or in this case a wash) runs by the schools. The Elementary school is about a block ahead, past the traffic light, on the right. Junior High, a block further. Sigh...