Getting to School

EMS PTSA encourages all parents to make safe transportation choices for their students. Where safe, please have your students take the yellow school buses, bike, walk, or carpool whenever possible. We want to reduce the size of the car line at EMS, and by doing this reduce our impact on the community, on each other, and on the planet.

Q&A

During our April 2024 transportation survey, certain questions were asked anonymously by families. Here is some information that may be useful.

Q. Could you ask facilities to add an apron to the entry drive and soften the curve at the top of the hill that leads into the lower parking lot?  The turning corners are too sharp and the curbs are too close.

A. EMS PTSA has heard that the School District is considering changes similar to this over the summer before the 24-25 school year. We do not have specific information on what will be updated, but we will pass along your feedback to the District.

Q. I would LOVE if my kids could walk or bike to school.  However, without clear sidewalks on 208th, I  feel it’s just not safe. Is there anything we can do with the city to get proper sidewalks?

A. 208th Ave NE is a King County road, since it is outside Redmond city limits. Even though the address says "Redmond," it is in unincorporated King County.

To let the county know you want infrastructure for students near schools , email King County Councilmember Sarah Perry. Evergreen Middle School is in her district. (Everyone can contact the Councilmember. There is not requirement to be eligible to vote.)

As part of planning for a future rebuild/expansion of EMS, we hear that LWSD is investigating sidewalk updates under its control and also working with King County to try to secure other updates. We will pass along your feedback to the District.

Q. Our bus stop is the Tesla STEM high school bus parking lot.  At pick up, high school buses start coming in around the same time our bus drops off.  We have been told not to park in the bus parking.  The high school parking lot is full and their pick up line is already backing up at 2:40 when our bus drops off, so we can’t park there and have been told not to get in the high school pick up line. We encourage our kids to walk home, but that’s not always possible. I have parked on the side of the road before, but that’s not very safe either.  Any suggestions?

A. This definitely sounds like a situation with no clearly defined solution. Would it be possible to have your student walk to the Alcott parking loop and pick them up there? (However, we don't know if the Alcott staff would be okay with this idea and you should always defer to their instruction.) Thank you for having your students walk home when possible. We will pass along your feedback to the District.

Q. While a reduction in volume would help it would not solve the larger safety issues of Evergreen's single entrance point.

A. As state above, the School District is considering changes to the entrance over the summer before the 24-25 school year. We do not have specific information on what will be updated, but are trying to obtain some clarity. However, the single entrance point is something that is only likely to be addressed if there are more comprehensive changes to the school grounds during the planned Evergreen rebuild and renovations.