How to set up a school carpool schedule

A carpool works when everyone knows whose turn it is, turns stay fair over the year, and changes don't get lost in a group chat. Here is how to set one up.

1. Agree on the trips

Most school carpools make two trips a day: the morning drop-off and the afternoon pickup. Write down the time each one leaves, which days of the week it runs, and which kids ride.

2. Choose how turns go round

• Each school day, the next family. Fairest over time: days off are skipped, so a Monday holiday never costs the same family again and again.
• Same weekdays every week. Easiest to remember. Works when every family has one fixed free day.
• A week each. Fewest handoffs between families; best for two or three families.

Start the afternoon rotation one family later than the morning, so no family drives both trips on the same day.

Example: three families, two weeks

3. Plan for changes

Someone always has a dentist appointment. Agree that a family who can't make its turn asks the group, and that the trip stays theirs until someone says yes. Keep a count of trips, so favors even out.

4. Mark the days off

Add school holidays, teacher work days and breaks before the year starts. A carpool that forgets a day off sends a parent to an empty school.

Templates by number of families

• Carpool schedule for 2 families
• Carpool schedule for 3 families
• Carpool schedule for 4 families
• Carpool schedule for 5 families
• Carpool schedule for 6 families