At the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year, First Student bus company introduced a bus tracker app called “FirstView” to District 99. The “FirstView” app will provide students with their estimated bus arrival time based on the time at which the bus route starts. The app will also allow parents to receive real-time information regarding their child’s bus.

The app was improved all summer long by District 99 administration and staff from DGS and DGN. Associate principal Omar Davis explains how the “First View” app came to life.

“We worked on the app all summer. There have been many kinks that we had to work out, and we are still working some out with the bus company, but [the app] was rolled out in early November when I felt that we were in a good spot to send the email out to families letting everyone know that [the app] was on the way,” Davis said.

There are many features that are available inside of the “FirstView” app such as tracking your bus location, knowing the exact time the bus arrived at your school in the morning and knowing what time it left your school at the end of the day. The main purpose of the app according to Davis is to “give real-time information to students and parents about transportation.”

With the introduction of this app, principal Edward Schwartz feels that the safety of his students will be increased.

“Any time we can limit [students] just standing out on a street corner, I think that is better, especially in the morning when the weather is bad because that is usually when the buses are running late,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz isn’t the only person to believe that the “FirstView” app will increase student safety. Senior Audrey Anderson related one of the skills that she learned in her personal safety and wellness gym class to the “FirstView” app.

“In personal safety and wellness one of the things we always talk about is knowing your route and letting people know where you are going so you can stay safe in case you ever get attacked or abducted so if parents can track where their child’s bus is then that is going to help them a lot,” Anderson said.

Since the app was only released last month, not every student who takes the bus has the app. On average there are about 1,000-1,300 students that take the bus each day. Junior Natasha Sanchez explained why she will be downloading the “FirstView” app.

“I currently do not [have the app], [but] honestly I will probably download it because it seems like it will be beneficial. It can help me figure out where my bus is if it happens to be late because I don’t want to be standing out in the cold any longer than I have to,” Sanchez said.

Fortunately, some students are already receiving real-time information about their bus. Sophomore Paige Lupie has had the “FirstView” app since November when it first was launched to District 99.

“The app helps me know when the bus is coming and if I have to be there earlier or later. I don’t have to stand out in the cold or worry about missing the bus now,” Lupie said.

The process for downloading the “FirstView” app is similar to the process of downloading any other app. The step by step instructions are located on DGS school website or in this provided link.