Queensbury Union Free School District is launching a parent/guardian app called Stopfinder that will allow parents and guardians to accurately track their children’s school bus in real time.
The easy-to-use app is secured so only authorized users will have access to school bus information.
Stopfinder is free to parents and guardians and allows users to customize when they receive alerts about their children’s bus location.
Stopfinder works seamlessly with the district’s routing system, allowing the Transportation Department to communicate directly if and when a bus is delayed. For example, if a road is closed and a bus will be late, only parents/guardians of students affected by that road closure will be alerted.
“We are excited to offer this service to Queensbury families,” said Superintendent of Schools Kyle Gannon. “Stopfinder will play a critical role in streamlining our Transportation Department while keeping parents up to date on their student’s bussing information.”
The Stopfinder app will answer that most important question, “Where is my child’s school bus?” In addition to real time notifications showing the location of the bus, Stopfinder also provides school bus schedule information.
You can also create GeoAlerts for your student, which will notify you when the bus has arrived or departed from any location on your student’s route, including their assigned bus stop and school. Stopfinder also includes the ability to create Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) alerts based on your student’s assigned stop.
“The Stopfinder app is an exciting tool that will give parents and caregivers real-time ETA alerts along with the most up-to-date bus schedules for all of their children,” said Ben Grieco, director of Educational Technology and Transportation. “Additionally, families will be able to set up geofences so they can be notified when the bus reaches a specified area.”
Primary parents listed in SchoolTool will receive an invitation via email to join Stopfinder on Aug. 22.
“Stopfinder was created with a lot of care by parents for parents,” said Transfinder President and CEO Antonio Civitella. “Just like with everything else having to do with student transportation, we had to get this right. The expectations parents have are understandably high. We believe Stopfinder will give parents and guardians the peace of mind they crave — knowing that their children are where they are supposed to be.”