By Ruby Thomas, Record Staff Writer
Beginning this fall, Mercy Academy and DeSales High School will team up to offer new bus routes to students across town.
The two schools will be offering five bus routes with 26 stops in areas such as Shively, Prospect, Jeffersontown and the Highlands, according to a press release from the schools.
Both schools have had a bus service for a few years now, but combining their services is a way of being “good stewards” of their resources, said Mercy Academy’s principal Sarah Peace during a recent interview. “It allows both schools to maximize what we’re able to offer.”
There will be one-way and round-trip services available. The cost of round-trip services for a school year is $750 and $400 for one-way services for the school year, said Peace.
There’s also a sibling discount for round-trip travel, noted Peace. The sibling discount cost is $500 for the school year. Parents will be able to spread the payments out over the school year without any additional fees, she said.
Peace said she knows from personal experience how challenging it is to coordinate transportation for families. “I personally understand how difficult the logistics can be,” said Peace. Having an option to ride a bus to school is “one less piece parents have to coordinate in an already busy life.”
Peace said that Mercy’s incoming freshman class come from 40 different schools in 31 different zip codes. She said this underscored the need to have access to school buses across the city. “I see this service impacting families who desire an all-girl Catholic education for their students,” said Peace. “Parents will know transportation is no longer a barrier.”
Rick Blackwell, president of DeSales High School, said in the release “I am excited that DeSales High School and Mercy Academy will be partnering in this collaborative effort to increase transportation options all across the community. We owe it to our students and their families to seek efficiencies and hopefully, eliminate obstacles to attending a Catholic high school.”
Peace said she believes this is a service Mercy and DeSales will be able to sustain over time for years to come. “We’re launching something we know we could sustain overtime,” she said. “We’re grateful for the partnership with DeSales and the ability to allocate resources and provide it to students no matter where they come from.”
