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Transportation

The Monona Grove School District partners with Nelson's Bus Service, Inc. to provide transportation to our families. 

Nelson’s has been providing school bus transportation since 1940, and is now in its 3rd generation of ownership.  The Company was built on a solid belief in quality and customer service and continues to operate with those same foundational beliefs. We encourage you to visit their website to read their Vision and Mission Statement, along with the history of their Company. Nelson's takes great pride and incredible care to ensure that they continue to provide the safest, most efficient, and most reliable transportation to the students they serve.

Please call Nelson's Bus Service, Inc. at (608) 221-8417 with all transportation related communication. 

Contact Information for Nelson Bus Service, Inc.
Email: MononaGrove@NelsonsBusService.com
Phone: (608) 221-8417
Fax: (608) 205-9044

 
 

Stopfinder Information

Nelson’s Bus Service utilizes a parent/guardian app called Stopfinder that allows parents and guardians (and any other authorized users such as grandparents or childcare providers) to have easy-to-use and secure access to their student’s school bus information. Stopfinder is free for families. Beginning in the 2024-25 school year, all transportation communication on bus notifications and transportation updates will be sent through Stopfinder.

With this app, you can:

  • View your student's daily transportation assignments - including transfer trips and stops
  • Securely share your student's schedule with caregivers
  • Receive custom notifications and updates related to transportation

How to get the app

Parents/guardians of students listed in Infinite Campus as “Emergency Priority 1” will receive an email from no-reply@stopfinder.com inviting them to set up the app and begin using it. (To find out if you are listed as Emergency Priority 1, please log in to Infinite Campus. In the left menu, click More, and then select Family Information.) Once this primary contact has created a profile, they are able to grant access to any additional authorized contacts they choose. If you don’t receive this email, or if the primary contact does not add you and you believe you should be an authorized user, contact mononagrove@nelsonsbusservice.com.

Access Student Transportation Schedules

Access to student schedules is granted only to the student’s designated contacts by Nelson's/MGSD. The Stopfinder contacts, at their own discretion, may share their student’s schedule with caregivers (sub-subscribers). Please contact mononagrove@nelsonsbusservice.com if you haven’t received an email invitation to register for Stopfinder or if you have any questions regarding your student’s transportation schedule.

Learn more about Stopfinder features:

School Transportation Zones

Transportation to public schools is regulated by Wisconsin state statutes, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, and local school board policies. In accordance with state law and Monona Grove School Board policy 8600, Monona Grove offers transportation to students of any age, whose distance from their school makes this service necessary within the limitations established by State law and the regulations of the Department of Public Instruction or other appropriate agency. The “distance necessary” is determined by the age of the student and the conditions in which a student would otherwise encounter if they were to walk to school. These are called “unusually hazardous.” While it is generally understood that all traffic situations students may travel through include some degree of hazard, an area may be deemed unusually hazardous due to a high speed limit, lack of sidewalks or crossing guards, degrees of traffic, presence of railroad tracks, etc. 

Monona Grove School District most recently updated its Transportation Zone in 2021, including updates to the “Unusually Hazardous” zones. A study was conducted by Traffic Analysis and Design Inc. (TADI). The report can be found here. We anticipate a new, districtwide traffic study in advance of the 2025-26 school year given the growth and development in the school district as well as the reconfiguration of Cottage Grove School and Taylor Prairie School. 

Transportation Zone Maps

When signing up for school transportation, your address will be verified by our staff to ensure accuracy. If you select that you live in the transportation zone but your verified address does not reflect that, you will receive a message from our staff about paying Buy a Bus Seat fees before being routed. Please refer to the maps below to ensure timeliness and accuracy of your transportation sign-up.

Cottage Grove School Transportation Zone - Grades 1st and 2nd

 
Granite Ridge School Transportation Zone - Grades 3rd through 5th (GRS transportation zone has been changed by Board action on September 5, 2024. 

 
Taylor Prairie School Transportation Zone - Grades 4K & K

 
Winnequah School Transportation Zone - Grades 4K through 2nd

 
Winnequah School Transportation Zone - Grades 3rd through 5th Grade

 

Glacial Drumlin School Transportation Zone (All Monona Grove School District resident students residing in Monona are in the transportation zone.)

 

Monona Grove High School Transportation Zone (All Monona Grove School District resident students residing in Cottage Grove are in the transportation zone.)

MG21 Charter School Transportation Zone (All Monona Grove School District resident students residing in Cottage Grove are in the transportation zone.)