In order to accommodate changes in traffic patterns that have resulted from the Route 228/Three Degree Road Intersection project and the opening of the Milky Way access road, Mars Area School District is modifying afternoon dismissal procedures at Mars Area Middle School, effective Monday, Nov. 18.

Instead of 28 buses lining up for dismissal at Mars Area Middle School, only 14 buses will be transporting middle school students to Mars Area High School, where some students may need to change buses.

The following bus line-up diagram shows those school buses that will be picking up students at Mars Area Middle School. Students, whose assigned buses are listed with bolded numbers, are to board their bus as usual. Students, who ride the buses with the numbers listed in parenthesis (#) will need to board the bolded number bus listed above their assigned bus number.

Once all students have boarded, the school buses will then travel to Mars Area High School, where any middle school students, who are not riding their assigned school bus, will need to transfer to the appropriate bus, which should be parked immediately adjacent to the transfer bus. The following bus line-up diagram shows where the buses will be parked in front of the High School.

Again, once all students have boarded, the buses will continue to student’s afternoon bus stops as usual.

As a reminder, please note that this change will take effect on Monday, Nov. 18. It is our hope that this change will better enable all buses to arrive at our secondary schools on time for afternoon dismissal.

The District appreciates your patience and cooperation as we are continually working to improve traffic flows and safety at all of our schools. We apologize for any inconvenience.