Dayton Public Schools (DPS) will welcome about 3,370 high school students for the 2025-2026 school year. Freshmen begin classes Tuesday, Aug. 12.
This summer, district staff hosted orientation sessions for the estimated 1,400 freshmen at its seven high schools. They included teaching about the Greater Dayton RTA service, something some of these students will use.
Ponitz Career Technology Center is expecting about 330 freshmen. During one Friday session, Tierra McGee asked a group of 9th graders if they'd ever used the RTA APP. "It's good because you're using the app. Now what bus do you take from the Hub to here?" challenged McGee.
"We want to make sure students understand how to ride public transportation because if you know ... how to get transported, then you're able to do that on your own and become more of an independent person."
"We want to make sure students understand how to ride public transportation because if you know how to use an app, if you know how to get transported, then you're able to do that on your own and become more of an independent person," explained McGee, senior academic coordinator at Dayton Public Schools.
Ponitz on West Washington Street is less than 1.5 miles from RTA’s downtown Hub on East 4th Street. I took a ride with this group on a school bus down to the Hub. We gathered on the middle strip where passengers board and debark RTA buses.
McGee pointed out RTA workers on hand to answer route questions.
"When you are downtown there are people who are in green shirts or green and black shirts," said McGee. "So if you have any confusion at all, 'What bus do I ride?' you would ask someone wearing a RTA shirt or jacket."
RTA staff also used the app to show students other bus options to get to Ponitz.
Our group boarded Bus 19 heading back to the career center. McGee emphasized that the RTA app also provides other important information.
"It'll also give you walking distance, bike distance, from the different stops; like how far you'll have to walk to get to wherever your location was from there, from that bus stop," pointed out McGee.
Once back inside the school, McGee and Ponitz Assistant Principal Wesley Rodenberg emphasized courtesy and safety.
"If something happens on the bus, there's a confrontation between riders, move to the front, get away from whatever's going on."
"If something happens on the bus, there's a confrontation between riders, move to the front, get away from whatever's going on," stressed Rodenberg.
He also urged students to be mindful of their surroundings.
"If you see somebody else, especially on a walker, in a wheelchair, get out of their way, be considerate," said Rodenberg. "Because we had so many people, somebody on a walker had to go out and around us into the bus lane. Make sure you're paying attention to what's going on around you at all times."
McGee advised students to move away from danger if they see it.
"If you see that there's an issue, move away from it and you know who to talk to: a person in a green or black shirt that has RTA on it," McGee said. "Not just anybody in a black or green shirt, right? You wanna make sure that they work for the RTA. That's who you go to."
McGee said when students master the skill of using RTA it reduces one of the barriers that can negatively impact a student's attendance: lack of transportation.
"Buses rotate every 35 to 40 minutes. It's important for students to understand, okay, how long will I have to wait for the next bus? How early do I need to leave my home? Or how early do I need to leave a location to make sure that I'm at school on time," explained McGee.
"So looking at the transit app it kind of helps them plan ahead... and account for those multiple bus times, then they're able to get to school on time."
It's vital life skill McGee said will help these DPS students grow in confidence and independence.
