Commuting during the Washington Bridge closure
above: Channel 10 came to campus in April to learn more about the community's response to bridge traffic.
In the winter and spring of 2024, Gordon responded to the Washington Bridge closure with a wide variety of strategies aimed at helping families manage a newly unpredictable commute, including take home ready-to-heat dinners for sale in the dining hall, bike-to-school meetups, car activity kits for bored children, and more.
In the fall of 2024, we are sticking with the ideas that families seemed to find most helpful: accomodations to make remote working from Gordon easier, and support for carpooling. Other ideas are always welcome care of Assistant Head of School for Institutional Advancement and Community Engagement Veronica Jutras, vjutras@gordonschool.org.
Working remotely from Gordon
Skip the commute
The Commons continues to remain open and busy with coffee, wifi, lunch and seating for parents who want to wait out rush hour - or stay all day! Basic work-from-Gordon guidelines are here.
Free lunch
During bridge construction, caregivers who are working from Gordon can grab lunch in the dining hall. They should eat in the Commons and return their dishes to the dining hall. They should NOT use the occasion to visit their children. The service line is open 11:25am to 1:15pm but please avoid the service line between 12:45 and 1pm.
Private workspace
Gordon has small tutoring rooms for remote workers who need privacy for one hour slots. Stop in at the front desk to see if one's available. To reserve one in advance, call the front desk at 401 434-3833 between 7:30 and 3:30 or email alima@gordonschool.org
Carpooling
above: according to a survey we ran in January, 56% of you were interested in carpooling, but 20% hadn't begun.
Carpooling
Families have been connecting to form carpools, since long before the bridge construction, and it's always a great idea to reach out to your neighbors. Veronica Jutras has been doing some matchmaking for families, too, and she still welcomes inquiries at vjutras@gordonschool.org.
The key to carpooling is to have a consistent plan and remember that it doesn't have to be all-or-nothing. Maybe it's one day a week. Or all five mornings, but not the afternoons. The possibilities are endless and every shared ride gets a car off the road.
above: a map of faculty and staff in Mr. Griffin's neighborhood. Clicking a red dot gets you information on that household. Follow the directions below to get a map of student families in your neighborhood.
Planning a carpool using the online directory
Families can reach out to one another directly, using information from Gordon's online directory. To access this information, log in to www.gordonschool.org/parentlogin, click on the directory and then click on "student" in the drop down menu.
Once you’ve done this, you’ll notice a box appears on the right that lists all the cities where families live. This can be filtered using the checkbox tool.
You can also select “map” to see address locations relative to you. If you do select the map option, a map will appear with red dots indicating where folks live. You can zoom in on homes and click on them to get their identities, then look them up in the directory.
Babysitters and caregivers as a carpool strategy
Some families have had a lot of success finding rides and after school child care support by posting on the RI Babysitters Club: A place to find and share sitters Facebook and care.com
If you already have a sitter who transports your children to and from school and you're open to having others in that car under their care and splitting costs, please let Veronica know at vjutras@gordonschool.org
App alert
Some parents are finding success taking the business of carpool coordination off texts and into an app specifically designed to organize ride shares. Gokid describes itself as a parent-driven carpool solution for schools that helps reduce traffic and offers a transportation alternative. Learn more at https://gokid.mobi/schools. If you check it out, let Veronica know how it goes at vjutras@gordonschool.org
It's never too late to sign up for the public bus
Statewide Bus, the company that services schoolchildren throughout the state, offers free transportation to Gordon for students who live in:
- Smithfield
- Providence
- Lincoln
- East Providence
- Pawtucket
- Central Falls
- Cranston
- Johnston
- Bristol
- Warren
- Barrington
Families can register for bus transportation at any time: Statewide will review new registrations and communicate directly with families as to whether or not they can accommodate based on current routes and bus capacities.
More information at www.gordonschool.org/bus
Get ahead in the mornings
Our Early Gators drop-off program will continue to be ready to receive children at 7:15am, free of charge, every day, to allow families flexibility as they plan their morning commute.