ALC Schools provides supplemental student transportation to more than 350 school districts in 18 states across the country. Their two fully staffed dispatch centers, field representatives, and routing and optimization teams coordinate 10,000 trips for special needs, displaced and foster students every day. From the districts' specifications to the details of each child's unique need, ALC Schools vehicles and drivers meet federal, state and district regulations, providing safety and consistency for your most vulnerable students.
- Special Needs
- Displaced
- McKinney-Vento
- Hard-to-serve trips
- Out-of-district
- Multi-district coordination
ALC Schools cares about the safety of your students. With an unlimited fleet of adaptive vehicles including mini-vans, SUV's, and sedans, ALC Schools delivers safe, reliable, consistent, and cost-saving supplemental transportation. Drivers and vehicles meet federal, state, and district-specific requirements along with ALC Schools stringent training and on-going compliance. Consistency is important to a special need's child, and it's important to ALC Schools. That's why we strive to ensure that every student rides with the same driver every day. This solution increases the comfort level of the student, providing them stability, familiarity, security, trust and a better day in the classroom.
To learn more, visit www.ALCSchools.com
Who is Transporting Your Students?
Because we not only match the vehicle, but also the driver with the individual needs of the student, drivers view their role as having made a commitment to serving "their" students each and every day. The result: students spend more days in the classroom, providing them and their parents stability, familiarity, security and trust.
ALC Schools cares about the safety of your student. That's why we confirm that any driver providing service has complied with the following, as required by state law or your district:
- Valid driver's license appropriate for the vehicle type, registration and insurance
- Ongoing DMV record review for driver safety
- Criminal background check
- Enrolled in a random drug & alcohol testing program
- Meets all other state/district-specific requirements
How Will Vehicles & Drivers Be Identified?
The vehicles transporting your students will be identified with a placard on the dashboard. Each driver will have a photo ID badge stating that they are a subcontracted transportation provider for your district.
We've Launched the VIP App!
Real-time tracking, ETAs, and notifications for parents and guardians.
We are thrilled to announce that we are now offering the VIP (Very Important Passenger) App to the families and caregivers of students receiving transportation through ALC Schools. With the VIP app, parents/guardians can track and manage their student’s transportation. The VIP app offers both useful functionality and peace of mind. The VIP app allows for parents/guardians to:
• Track the location of their student in real-time during transportation to and from school.
• View updated ETAs of when their student will arrive based on actual driver location and real-time traffic data.
• Get notification when their student gets picked up and dropped off at both home and school.
• Get a notification if there is a substitute driver.
• View upcoming scheduled trips.
We've Launched the District Portal!
The ALC District Portal is your online home for tools and reports from ALC Schools. Our District Portal is built using the latest web technologies for quick, easy, and secure access.
Here is an overview of some of the powerful features of the ALC District Portal
District Trip Tracker (DTT)
Real-time transportation management platform
One Portal: All Students
With District Trip Tracker (DTT), your student transportation management team can now see everything in one place, including current trips, completed trips, and upcoming scheduled trips. This can save time by providing both a comprehensive view of all students as well as allowing you to drill down and see detailed information for a single trip or single student.
Innovative Multiple Views
Customize your view to get the information you need:
- School view will provide your team comprehensive information about current, future, and completed trips for each school in your district. In the morning, you can see all vehicles headed inbound towards a school with corresponding ETAs, students on board, and the driver behind the wheel. In the afternoon, you can see everything in reverse.
- Map view: see the location of every vehicle on a map – or hide the map and view only the lists of information. It’s all updated automatically and in real time so you can see fresh ETAs for every vehicle and every student.
- Student view will give your team insights on a single student’s scheduled trips, completed trips and canceled trips, as well as information regarding trips in progress right now.
Real-Time Trip Tracking
Because drivers use our proprietary ALC Schools mobile app, we receive frequent, real-time GPS tracking of student trips. ALC’s DTT gives you the same visibility into the location of every vehicle as our own Dispatch center.
- Auto-updating ETAs: get information about arrival time on any trip, updated in real time based on routes, detours, traffic, construction, and road closures. Our system uses Google Maps, the world leader in real-time route information for best-in-class predictability.
- Real-time driver & vehicle information: For each student, get information on today’s driver and vehicle. If there is a substitute driver, you’ll see this information immediately.
Student Information at Your Fingertips
For each student in your transportation program, you can view essential information:
- Today’s transportation details
- Past trips, including completed trips and no shows
- Future scheduled trips
- Cancel upcoming future trips (up to 2 hours before the scheduled pickup time) directly from the portal. No need to make a phone call!
Transportation Request Form (TRF)
The easiest way to make a request for a new or existing student
Everything’s Online — paper is history
With ALC’s new online Transportation Request Form (TRF), you’ll never have to fill out forms by hand again. Simply log into the ALC District Portal, complete the form, and click submit.
Built to save you time and effort
Customize your view to get the information you need:
- Look up students to see if we already have them in our system. If so, you don’t need to fill out the entire form. Just update us with the changes.
- Select the right school location with a single click. No need to type out the complete name or address of the school – we already have that information in our system. (If you’re entering a brand-new school location, you can do that, too).
- No need to fill in your user details. Since you’re logged into the system, we already have your contact info on file. That’s another 3 form fields you don’t need to complete.
- Add siblings using the same form so you don’t need to enter the data twice.
At ALC Schools, our focus is on fulfilling districts' special transportation needs. Every day we coordinate trips for thousands of students, yet we never lose sight of the importance of each student's individual and unique circumstances.
We realize that knowing the student's preference to sit on the right-side of the vehicle, for example, or to be accompanied by a favorite stuffed animal is just as important, in many cases, as understanding their physical requirements.
For us, no student and no circumstance is too difficult to address.
Our goal is to provide safe, reliable and high quality transportation for school districts and the families they serve. Because ALC Schools focuses only on special transportation needs, we are able to offer a level of personalized service found nowhere else.
Districts' Special Transportation Needs
For more than a decade, ALC Schools has been coordinating the special transportation needs of districts just like yours.
Whether assisting districts with their McKinney-Vento program, their hardest to serve trips, or their special needs students, ALC provides a scalable solution that can expand or contract to accommodate this ever-changing population.
If your district has special transportation needs in any of the following areas, ALC Schools has a solution for you.
Flexibility
Expand or contract your fleet at any time to accommodate the dynamic nature of this population.
Responsive
McKinney-Vento students are always on the move and ALC Schools' model allows you to respond quickly to their ever changing needs.
All Encompassing
Whether they reside inside or outside of your district, we can help coordinate transportation for all of your McKinney-Vento students.
Students with Special Needs
Personalized Service
Knowing the student's preference to sit on the right-side of the vehicle or to be accompanied by a favorite stuffed animal, is just as important as understanding their physical requirements.
Driven By Compassion
Not just anyone will do when it comes to serving students with special needs. All of the drivers we work with are compassionate and committed to the safety and well-being of your students.
Right Vehicle
Factors such as seating arrangements, wheelchair accessibility, additional equipment needs, and the possible need for a nurse/aide, are all considered when identifying the vehicle type that meets the needs of your students.
Efficient
Sending a bus to pick up eight students or fewer is not efficient and results in longer ride times for your students. ALC Schools can help route those trips into vans/sedans, providing not only cost savings but also a more comfortable and shorter trip for your students.
Cost Conscious
Using the right vehicle for your smaller trips lowers your cost by reducing gas consumption and the wear-and-tear on your buses.
Rural Routes
Using the right sized vehicle is critical when transporting as few as one or two students traveling to a remote area of your district, or even a handful of students living along a rural route.
Students Traveling Out-of-District
Out of Bounds
Some students have unique needs requiring them to attend special schools outside the district. Using smaller vehicles is more cost effective and promotes a stable comfortable, and consistent environment for them.
Responsive Resources
The ability to efficiently allocate resources allows for out-of-district students' needs to be met without incurring additional costs for the district
Multi-District Coordination
Be A Good Neighbor
When several neighboring school districts are transporting students to the same specialized school, or out-of-district to a non-public school, coordinating the transportation ensures that these routes are being handled as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.
Pro-rated Billing
ALC Schools can provide multi-district coordination, billing each for only their portion of the trip. When costs are shared, you and your neighboring districts save money.
ALC Schools' Model For Special Transportation Needs
The ALC Schools' Model meets districts' special transportation needs by coordinating special needs vans/sedans to transport McKinney-Vento, special needs, and out-of-district students, as well as hard-to-serve and multi-district trips.
By matching the right vehicle with the right trip, districts no longer have to pay for unused capacity. This model also gives districts the ability to expand and contract their fleet to accommodate the ever-changing requirements of these student populations.
Today, every dollar counts - especially education dollars. In the budget-strained field of school transportation, the ALC Schools' Model allows us to make and verify an exceptionally unique claim: reduced costs and improved service levels.
In fact, ALC Schools can save school districts an average of 20-30%, while never losing sight of each student's individual needs and unique circumstances. This is a claim we can prove and one that seems hard to ignore.
One Size Does Not Fit All
When it comes to transporting students with special needs, "one size does not fit all". We understand that each student has unique needs that must be accommodated. By ensuring that each student is matched with the appropriate vehicle, and that each vehicle is efficiently routed, ALC Schools is able to reduce costs for the school district and help minimize the amount of time each student spends in transit to and from school.
Not just anyone will do when it comes to serving children with special transportation needs. That's why we take great care to make sure that anyone driving your students is fully qualified and capable of addressing each student's unique challenges; and is compassionate and respectful of the children and families you serve.
Consistency - it's important to your special needs students and it's important to ALC Schools. That's why we strive to ensure that each of these students rides with the same driver every day. As a result, the students enjoys more stability, familiarity, security and trust.
Because we not only match the vehicle but also the driver with the individual needs of each student, drivers view their role as having made a commitment to serving "their" students each and every day.
What matters most to ALC Schools is the safety of your students. That's why any vehicle or driver providing service to your students has confirmed that they are fully qualified and have met the following criteria:
Drivers: ALC Schools confirms that drivers have complied with the following, as required by state law or your district:
- Valid driver's license appropriate for the vehicle being driven
- Valid registration and insurance required for the vehicle
- Ongoing DMV record review for an indication of safety and driving habits
- Criminal background check
- Must test negative on random alcohol/drug screening
- Completed detailed Contractor/Driver Information Form and in-person meeting and review
- TB testing
- Meets all school district requirements
- Meets other state specific requirements
Vehicles: ALC Schools confirms that vehicles comply with the following as required by state law or by your school district:
- Current registration
- Insurance verification
- Valid vehicle permit
- Vehicle inspection
- Meets all district safety, maintenance and cleanliness standards
- Meets other state specific requirements
The ALC Schools Difference
At ALC Schools, our focus is on fulfilling districts' special transportation needs. Every day we coordinate trips for thousands of students, yet we never lose sight of the importance of each student's individual and unique circumstances.
Because ALC Schools focuses only on special transportation needs, we are able to offer a level of personalized service found nowhere else, including:
Significantly Reduced Costs
Today, every dollar counts - especially education dollars. ALC Schools can save school districts 20-30% on average AND provide improved service. This is a claim we can prove and one that seems hard to ignore.
Prior to transporting any student, their parent/guardian will have the opportunity to meet with an ALC Schools representative to discuss all aspects of the student's transportation needs.
ALC Schools understands that knowing a student's preference to sit on the right-side of the vehicle and to be accompanied by a favorite stuffed animal is just as important, in many cases, as understanding their physical requirements. These parent/guardian meetings allow ALC Schools to cultivate relationships with the students and their families.
Driven By Compassion - Same Driver Every Day
Consistency - it's important to your students and it's important to ALC Schools. Our solution, which offers the same driver every day, enhances communication with parents and increases the comfort level of the students.
Because we not only match the vehicle, but also the driver with the individual needs of the child, drivers view their role as having made a commitment to serving "their" students each and every day. The result: students spend more days in the classroom, providing them and their parents stability, familiarity, security and trust.
ALC Schools is able to confirm the time and locations of each of the district's students' trip events. Knowing where your students are, and when they arrived, provides an additional level of comfort and safety.
Matching Each Student With The Right Vehicle
ALC Schools' solution is uniquely customized to meet the specific needs of the district's students - today - and as their needs change. ALC Schools ensures that each vehicle best matches the student's needs. Factors such as seating arrangements, wheelchair accessibility, additional equipment needs, and the possible need for a nurse/aide, are all considered in identifying a vehicle for your students.