The Hillel Bus

In order to establish the feasibility of the bus – which the school and our team agreed would be parent-led, paid-for, and operated – I developed a research survey over the summer of 2025 with detailed questions for prospective families about interest, logistics, and cost affordability of the program. This led to over 100 responses from interested parents in the local community, which I used to build a volunteer team of interested parents to do further outreach to prospective families.

Over the course of several weeks and parent info sessions, we secured commitments from parents representing nearly 50 students to enroll. In parallel, we competitively bid the bus contract to several reputable local and national bus companies. We also began searching for a part-time bus monitor and program admin who would ensure that kids as young as two could safely ride the bus (in five-point bus restraints similar to a car-seat). As a bonus, I negotiated with the community Jewish high school in the area to include them in the bus route to increase the catchment market for prospective families and provide a valuable service to families with kids of all ages.

With the support of our skilled attorney, Aaron Schaer of Ballard Spahr LLP, I developed a Board of Directors for a fledgling parent-led organization that worked in partnership with the school to operationalize the bus program. We hired our part-time staffer and launched our service officially in September 2025 just in time for the start of school. The program continues to grow, with new families enrolling and plans for a local after-school enrichment program as well as "Pickup Playdates" to bring together bus families for community-building.

The Hillel Bus Collective board includes Allison Gutman, Elana Parker, Kate and David Zenlea.

The bus program is generously supported by the Byron & Dorothy Gerson Innovation Fund as well as generous anonymous donors.