San Gabriel, CA – Durham School Services (DSS), a leader in student transportation, recently provided transportation services for the East San Gabriel Valley (ESGV) Special Education Local Plan Area’s (SELPA) special education (SPED) students to their 8th Annual Community Advisory Committee Arts Festival. The arts festival allows SPED students from all over the ESGV to come together to celebrate art and participate in activities such as jewelry making, sidewalk chalk design, face painting, clay sculpting, dancing, and more. This year, the arts festival’s theme was Mighty Forces, Moving Forward Together, and staff and students dressed up as their favorite superhero character.
The Durham team transported over 1,000 students from several school districts with their fleet of 127 SPED buses to Royal Oak Middle School, where the arts festival was held. This is DSS’ fourth year providing transportation for this annual event. Providing transportation for and working with SELPA is especially meaningful because of Durham School Services’ deep-rooted history, specialization, and commitment to providing special needs transportation, which dates back over 100 years ago.
Durham School Services has served East San Gabriel Valley SELPA since 2018 and has been an active community partner in the ESGV area. In addition to the annual arts festival, the DSS team has participated in other community events, such as helping paint and clean schools, refurbishing school computers, and holding food drives for the local school districts during the holidays.
“We have been providing transportation services for this event since the beginning of our partnership with SELPA. Our team members love working with their SPED students and are always going above and beyond for them,” said Torey Roberts, San Gabriel General Manager. “They’ve developed a strong bond and trust, which is especially important when working with SPED students. Seeing their excited and happy faces at the arts festival was a joy, and we are glad to have helped make the event a success by providing our services to the community in which we live, work, and serve.”
“Our students had a wonderful time and experience at the arts festival, and it is all thanks to the exceptional care and transportation service provided by Durham’s team to and from the event,” said Casiano Perez, SELPA Transportation Director. “Durham has unrivaled experience when it comes to SPED transportation. They understand the extra care, time, and attention needed when working with SPED students. The event would not have been as successful as it was without a dedicated community partner like Durham School Services.”