Christina Angeski stood at the corner of Division and Westfield Avenue at 7 a.m. waiting with her 8‑year-old daughter, Angelina, and her 5‑year-old son, Nicolas, for the school bus.
Getting the kids up at 6 a.m. — due to the new grade system within the Ansonia school district — wasn’t easy.
Due to restructuring, Angeski’s kids are attending a new school — Mead Elementary School, instead of Prendergast Elementary.
Mead’s start time is about 30 minutes earlier than last year’s start time. Prendergast, meanwhile, starts closer to 9 a.m.
“The kids woke up and asked ‘Why do we have to get up this early?’” Angeski said. “They said it looks like it’s still night out.”
Another downside of the new sytem — Angeski’s children have a longer walk to the bus stop.
Last year she simply opened her door and the children ran to the bus that stopped directly at her driveway on Westfield Avenue. Now the kids have to walk down to the busy Division Street intersection.
Amy Krummer lives on Westfield Avenue with her 6‑year-old daughter, Victoria, a new student at Mead. She attended Prendergast last year.
Instead of opening her daughter and watching her daughter get on the bus, Krummer has to make the trek to Division Street with Victoria and her 3‑year-old sister, Alivia.
“We have to get up at 6:15 a.m. to get ready,” Krummer said. “It makes the kids more tired. I also have to put them to bed an hour earlier at 7:30 p.m. instead of 8:30 p.m. It is also going to make me a lot more tired too.”
Ironically, the bus stop for Prendergast is still outside their apartment building.
The earlier start time at Mead Elementary is especially tough for Angeski.
Last year, her kids arrived home by 4 p.m. She could be home before they walked in the door.
This year, because her kids are leaving the house earlier, they are also getting home earlier. Angeski has to make arrangements for someone to wait for her children while she finishes work.
