GO MENLO

GO MENLO is an exciting new initiative to reduce traffic and parking on our campus through carpooling programs, three new bus routes, and support for biking, walking and using public transit. GO MENLO is an integral part of Menlo's larger sustainability efforts.

We’ll make it easy for you to GO MENLO. Menlo has partnered with Zimride, a web-based transportation scheduling tool. With Menlo School’s private Zimride community, Menlo families can find carpooling partners, sign up for bus rides, and earn incentive points by tracking their efforts on the Commute Calendar. Stanford, Facebook and Intuit are just some of the local organizations already using this great tool. Menlo is proud to be Zimride’s first independent school partner.

We know many in the Menlo community already make efforts to help the environment and reduce their car trips to school. GO MENLO acknowledges those continued efforts through the Incentive Program.

Why GO MENLO?
Last year, Menlo's Loop was clogged each morning with:

• 536 vehicles entering campus
• 232 vehicles parking on campus, and
• 304 vehicles exiting back onto our community's streets.

This produced approximately 3032 lbs of CO₂!

With GO MENLO, we can reduce our morning traffic by 35%. That would save 1072 lbs of CO₂ each morning. That's like planting 42 seedlings that will grow for 10 years.

Help Menlo plant those trees. GO MENLO.

Questions? Contact Kevin Conner, Director of Sustainability, at 650.330.2001 extension 2568 or kevin.conner@menloschool.org.

In keeping with Menlo's mission and values, we're committed to doing our part for the community and the environment. A greener transportation program alone is not enough.

So we're doing more.

GO MENLO is just one part of our green efforts. Kevin Conner, Menlo's Director of Sustainability, who collaborates with students, teachers and parents to create real change in our community.The Menlo School Green Council, comprised of chosen representatives, is working on new initiatives for the 2012-2013 school year. If you're interested in helping with these initiatives, contact Kevin Conner at kevin.conner@menloschool.org.

Where will this take us? Menlo will:

• Track our resource consumption and greenhouse gas production—then try to decrease those numbers
• Raise community sensitivity to environmental issues through classroom study, speakers and campus activities
• Provide tactical support for green programs initiated by members of the Menlo community

Through these actions, we'll become a more environmentally responsible community.

As the year continues, we'll add more sustainability resources to this page. So check back!

Looking for carpool partners? Don't know who lives in your neighborhood? Already have a carpool group, and need help coordinating schedules? Zimride can help. With Menlo's private community on Zimride, you can coordinate all your carpooling needs.

Click here to log in to Zimride’s Menlo School portal—just use the same email address you use to log on to the Menlo website (though you can create a new password).

(A note about privacy: Zimride and Menlo School are committed to the highest privacy protection; however, we understand that some families may not be comfortable with sharing their email address with a third party. If you would like to opt out of the program and have your email address removed from Zimride’s database, you may do so at any time. Just email Kevin Conner, Director of Sustainability, at kevin.conner@menloschool.org, and he will remove your data for you. To review Zimride’s privacy policy, click here.)

Once you’ve signed up with Zimride, track your trips through the Commute Calendar to earn points for the Menlo Incentive Program.

In addition to participating in Menlo’s incentive program, carpoolers will benefit from the 21 dedicated carpool parking spaces in Menlo's main lot. If you’re planning to carpool and park on campus, register for a carpool parking permit with the Student Life Office.

Sit back and let someone else do the driving! Menlo now offers three free bus routes to get you to school, starting in San Mateo, Woodside and Palo Alto. With WiFi access and dedicated, safe drivers, our buses will allow students to work (or sleep!) while they travel to school. Sign up for a seat on the bus through Zimride and track your bus trips through Zimride’s Commute Calendar to earn points for the Menlo Incentive Program.

To sign up for the bus, go to Zimride and look in the right-hand column for "Menlo School Buses." Click on "Sign up on Zimride now" and then choose your bus route. In the right-hand column, click on "Apply to Join."

Routes

Sign up on Zimride to catch a ride!

Live near campus? Encourage your child to get some fresh air and exercise—you’ll be helping his or her health and the environment! Track your efforts through the Zimride Commute Calendar to earn incentive points.

Learn more about the benefits of biking and walking here, and find tips and resources for biking here.

Want to learn more about biking or help Menlo’s biking community? Join the Cycling Knights, a group of Middle School parents dedicated to supporting safe biking. Contact Sarah Lucas.

Trains, buses—there are a lot of local public transit options to get to Menlo. Track your public transit rides through Zimride’s Commute Calendar to earn points for the Menlo Incentive Program.

The Clipper card is an affordable way to use public transportation throughout the Bay Area. You can buy monthly passes for Caltrain, samTrans, VTA, BART and other systems; students 17 years old and younger qualify for discount fares.

Caltrain
Take the train to the Menlo Park train station and catch the Menlo School Shuttle (see schedule below) to campus. Check out the weekday schedule here and the station map here. Fare listings are here.

samTrans
The San Mateo County Transit District bus system travels throughout the Bay Area and has stops near campus. Fare listings here. Route 83 runs along Valparaiso.Routes 295, 296, 390, KX and 85 stop at the Menlo Park Caltrain station, where you can catch the Menlo School Shuttle (see schedule below) to campus.

Menlo School Shuttle Bus (see schedule below)
Menlo runs shuttles between campus and the Menlo Park Caltrain station throughout the morning and afternoon commute times.

The Transportation Department has a hotline to keep parents informed of the arrival time of Menlo trips. When a bus trip is expected to return late, teachers and/or coaches will record a message indicating their expected arrival time on the hotline. You can reach the hotline at 650.330.2001 extension 2500.

Help Menlo—Help our Community!

Every time you carpool, take the bus, use public transportation, bike or walk to school, you earn a point worth $1.00 that goes to help two local community service and environmental organizations. You can track your incentive points through Zimride.

The Upper School's goal is to raise $15,000 for Hidden Villa, a non-profit organic farm and environmental educational center in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Menlo's donation will be used to support field trips to Hidden Villa for students from Taft Elementary in Redwood City, a school with which Menlo partners in multiple ways.

The Middle School's goal is to raise $20,000 for the Peninsula Humane Society's Wildlife Care Center, which treats sick and injured wild animals.

We're nearly halfway to our goals! Help Menlo help the community--take a car off the road and earn incentive points!

Interested in learning more? Contact Kevin Conner, Director of Sustainability, at kevin.conner@menloschool.org.

More GO MENLO information for faculty and staff is available here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Menlo School Buses
Q: Are there afternoon buses?
A: At this time, no. The bus is a pilot program, and we wanted to see how many riders the morning bus attracts and how high the demand might be for an afternoon bus before putting that in place. In addition, students all need to arrive at school in the morning at the same time, making it logistically easier to coordinate a bus schedule. In the afternoon, however, students’ schedules vary because of sports and afternoon activities, and thus coordinating a departure time is more difficult. If you are interested in an afternoon bus, please let Kevin Conner know.

Q: Are the bus schedules and stop locations final?
A: Yes. We will be monitoring feedback and participation so that we can provide the most effective service. Please send any and all feedback to Kevin Conner so that we can determine the best course of action.

Q: When does the bus start running?
A: Thursday, Aug. 25, the first day of school.

Q: How much does the bus cost?
A: The bus is free of charge.

Q: What kind of bus is it?
A: It is a yellow school bus run by First Student.

Q: Can non-Menlo students ride the bus?
A: No.

Q: How do I sign up multiple children on one account?
A: When you sign up, please indicate in the “Notes” section how many of your children are going to be riding the bus.

Q: Are bikes allowed on the bus?
A: No. However, skateboards, scooters, etc. are allowed on the bus if they can fit into a backpack or rest on the student’s lap.

Q: Is there WiFi on the buses?
A: There will be! We're working on the details now, and it will be up and running soon. Once that happens, we'll send an email with an announcement and technical details to all those who signed up for the buses on Zimride.

Q: Do I need to notify the school when my child is not riding the bus on a given day?
A: Not right now. If bus participation nears capacity, we will ask parents to be more consistent with their schedule. For now, your child merely needs to show up at the stop at the correct time in order to ride the bus.

Q: The Zimride bus schedule and the GO MENLO bus schedule don't match. Which one is correct? A: The GO MENLO website is the correct version. Zimride does not yet have the capability to break down the times to one-minute increments. Therefore, times on the Zimride schedule will appear as the earlier five-minute increment. For example, a bus that arrives at a stop at 7:18 am on the GO MENLO schedule will appear on the Zimride schedule as arriving at 7:15 am.

Q: My child is only going to ride the bus a few times at times I cannot foresee. Do we still need to sign up for the bus on Zimride? A: Yes. We need to have an accurate count of all students who intend to ride the bus at some point. If bus participation nears capacity, we will ask parents to be more consistent with their schedule.

Zimride
Q: Which email do I use to sign up?
A: Use the email address that receives parent-directed emails from Menlo.

Q: On the Zimride account, do I enter my name or my student’s?
A: Your name. If you entered your child’s name, please change it to yours.

Q: Will students have access to Zimride?
A: Yes. They will need access to earn incentives. Kevin Conner will be speaking to them about using the website. They will be asked to use only the Commute Calendar.

Carpools
Q: What defines a carpool?
A: A carpool is defined as three Menlo School faculty, staff or students that arrive on campus in the same car.

Q: How does my child register for an on-campus carpool parking spot?
A: Students can register for a carpool parking spot permit through Victoria Cruikshank in the Student Life Office. All carpool participants must be included on the registration form.

Q: My child may drive a different car to school on different days. Can he use the carpool permit in either car?
A: Yes. Because the permit hangs from the car's rearview mirror, it can be moved from one car to another. It cannot, however, be given to another student who is not part of you're child's registered carpool group.

Q: My child is registered in a carpool with two other students. Can they move the carpool permit from one car to the other, depending on which family is driving that day?
A: Yes. The permit can be shared by the different families registered in that carpool group.

Incentive Program
Q: If I have multiple children at Menlo, how do they track their incentives with only one commute calendar?
A: The students will be allowed to create their own account on Zimride. Kevin Conner will be speaking to them about using the website. They will be asked to use only the Commute Calendar.

Q: Do I track incentives on my Commute Calendar?
A: No, because we want students to manage and be responsible for their commute reporting.