Behind The Wheel
We pick-up and drop-off students at either school or work who live locally. Appleton, Mackville, Hortonville, Greenville, Medina, Dale. Cities covered include, but not limited to: Menasha Readfield Fremont Neenah Larsen New London Shiocton Seymour Kimberly If you live in the above 6 areas, we may ask that we meet you at a location in Hortonville, Greenville or Medina to do BTW lessons. If you chose the 9 / 0 behind the wheel option and live west of Hortonville or in a remote area we will need to have you meet us at a closer location to the Fox Valley for the lessons. In the event that you live in a location that has a driveway that isn't paved and our vehicle is going to get dirty we will park at the end of your driveway for pick-up & drop offs. Off course if the driveway is not going to get the vehicle dirty we will drive up to the house. We are providing a service that nearly all the other local schools do not offer, pickup at home. We are doing behind the wheel lessons Monday - Friday, 7:25 a.m. through 6:45 p.m. This means that we drive before, during and after school. We drive in either 1 hour or 2 hour blocks of time. We have started to utilize study hall time in school to legally do the behind the wheel lessons with parental consent by having them provide a note to the school on the day of the appointment. Several commercial drivers education schools are doing this in Wisconsin currently. Since the public school does not provide this educational experience, this is what makes the appointment an excused absence from school. We'll drive twice a week, 1 hour drive, 1 hour observation depending on the students study hall schedule. We have found that students learn best between the hours of 8:30 - 5 p.m., it is not to say that they cannot learn outside of those hours, however, they are at their peak during that time frame. This is why the public school system hours are set between 8 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. They understand that fact. Since drivers education is not taught in the public school, the public school cannot legally prohibit the student from obtaining that instruction. Who determines if an absence is excused from school? The school board must establish a written policy specifying the reasons for which pupils may be permitted to be absent from school ( WI State Statute sec. 118.16 (4) (a). Hortonville School District policy states that a student may be excused for professional appointments that cannot be performed outside of normal school hours. At least 17 public schools in Wisconsin allow their students to be excused for up to 2 hours per month to perform behind the wheel training in southwestern WI. Other public schools in Wisconsin allow students to be excused to do behind the wheel training during the school day. Parents may excuse their children's absence in writing before the absence in writing before the absence. A child may not be excused for more than 10 days in a school year under this provision (WI State Statute sec. 118.15 ( 3 ) ( c ). That is equal to 70 hours per school year. The student requirements for fulfilling the 12 hours of behind the wheel instruction equals .95 of 1 school day. It is highly unlikely that every student will miss that much time over a period ranging up to 1 year if they obtain their temps at 15 years of age. Some of our behind the wheel lessons with our most difficult to schedule students can obviously be done on days when there is not school if they are home (that's a whole another issue to scheduling when there is no school). After school activities, clubs, sports, jobs, etc... make scheduling a very difficult thing to do. NOTICE... During the 2022 - '23 school year starting in September 2022, Trinity Driving School will be doing behind the wheel lessons throughout the school day during school hours, as well as before and after school. Since the Hortonville School District will be eliminating LEARNING EXTENSION (study hall), we are forced to do what we are legally allowed to do since the school district does not offer driver's education. Multiple school districts in Wisconsin already have students released for 2 hour blocks of time for their behind the wheel training with commercial driver's education schools. SO THIS IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE: IF YOU DO NOT WANT YOUR SON OR DAUGHTER DOING THEIR BEHIND THE WHEEL LESSONS DURING THE SCHOOL DAY, PLEASE FIND A DIFFERENT DRIVERS EDUCATION SCHOOL. This may only affect your teen if they are extremely difficult to schedule because of their before or after school activities. For that reason alone, our business has decided that because the student has made a decision to be involved beyond the hours of the regular school day, we are not going to be driving later into the night or on the weekends any longer in the 2022 - '23 school year. This solves the problem of trying to schedule behind the wheel lessons verses job schedules, club schedules and athletic schedules. The student can be excused from a class during the school day. Trying to teach teens how to drive at night in the dark and do the maneuvers the way that they are required to be done on a road test is extremely difficult. Unfortunately some of the only night driving students get at night is with an instructor, even though parents are responsible for at least 10 hours of night time driving out of the 50 hours of required drive time. Until the state de-funded drivers education in Wisconsin it was taught during the school day in public schools. Personally, we all took drivers education in school during the day back in the '80's. One of the drivers education schools in Wisconsin that serves up to 17 different school districts only does behind the wheel lessons between the hours of 8:30 - 4:30 p.m. Parents will travel over 2 hours to meet at the pickup point to do their teens behind the wheel training (southwestern WI). When we compare their hours to ours, we are more flexible, our price is lower, we pick at home 97% of the time and the experience level is nearly equal. Driving with a nervous teenager at night has many challenges of course. Drivers more than ever before are more aggressive on the roadways. Roads are rougher than ever before so trying to get the students to avoid bad spots in the roadway is even more difficult at night. Then there is attempting to fill out evaluation sheets in the dark in the vehicle on a road that is rough with an inexperienced driver, that is really challenging. During inclement weather in the winter, road crews generally quit plowing the roads at 4:30 p.m. Then there is the new technology on motor vehicles, the LED headlights and taillights on other vehicles can be very annoying and hurtful. Just sit in a vehicle for a few hours in traffic and see enough flashing signal lights and blinding headlights and you'll know what we mean. Halogen headlights and signal lights were much more tolerable. During the fall of 2021 we almost hit 3 deer while doing behind the wheel lessons at night. The instructor hit the brakes and steered just enough each time as none of the students would have reacted in time. Then there is one of our favorites, pedestrians who decide to take their walk in the dark and not wear any reflective clothing or bother to carry a flashlight while walking with traffic (which is against state law). All of our contracts that have been sent out since December 2021 have stated that we will be driving during the daytime hours during the 2022 - '23 school year. If families do not want that, they will have to find another drivers education school option. The other schools that we meet with on a monthly basis (we're friends with dozen of other owners in the area) all would like to do their behind the wheel training during school hours, however, they are unwilling to do it for one reason or the other. These larger schools have a difficult time finding teachers during the off-time hours that drivers education has been designated to do for the past 15 years or so. With the current lack of individuals in the workforce, this problem will continue to get worse. We will do everything in our power to drive on early release days and days off during the week as we always have. The fact that Governor Evers ruled that driver's education schools were non-essential has helped us realize that we are more essential than ever before. We would like to personally thank the Governor for what he did to us in 2020 in demonstrating that we are an essential business in our community. We ask that students do not use the scented body mists, heavy scented perfumes or cologne on their behind the wheel lessons. If the scent is too strong it may result in an automatic cancellation of the behind the wheel lesson ($30 fee). Some individuals get headaches or have allergic reactions. It is also important that the student learns to keep their heel on the floor when using the brake. Whenever I mention this in the parent orientation everyone looks at me like I'm crazy. It is not a pleasurable experience when students jump on the brake pedal. Please text / call us at (920) 716-4391 to schedule, change or cancel your behind the wheel lessons. **24 hour advanced notice is required to cancel or change appointments in order to avoid additional fees.** Students who cancel their behind the wheel lessons inside of 24 hours, especially with less than 3 hours are going to be charged $30 for canceling with such short notice. Cancellations may expect to not get on the schedule for 30 days out. There will be a $30 charge assessed when the spot cannot be filled. Here is a link to help log hours that the state endorses... www.eregulations.com/driving/Wisconsin/ The student needs to do their 1st btw lesson within 60 days of obtaining their temps. If this does not happen, the student will be asked to relinquish their instructional permit to Trinity. Trinity will then issue another MV3001 form so that the student can go to the DMV and obtain a new instructional permit. The student will then be able to schedule btw lessons with Trinity Driving School. If the student refuses to make appointments upon our request and attempts to wait 55 - 60 days to do their first btw lesson we will start the lessons, but not be obligated to do the 6th btw lesson before the 6 months are up. The reasoning for this is... the student is cramming up to 12 months of driving into 4 months. This is not what the state of Wisconsin intended 'holding the temps for a minimum of 6 months' is all about. Trinity Driving School will not do more than 1 btw lessons in the month proceeding the student's road test. When the parent signs the MV3001 application form at the DMV for the new driver to obtain their temps they agreeing to practice with their son or daughter. Once the new driver obtains their temps they are eligible to drive with any immediate family members in the car as long as their parent or guardian is in the front side passenger seat next to them. The key to any new driver's success is frequency, not length. It would be far more beneficial to take the young driver out 5 times per week for 20 minutes or less verses one time each month for 1 hour. The young driver should be making progress from lesson to lesson. They should be able by btw #4 to turn a corner and end up on the correct side of the street. If the student is not interested in driving and at least one btw lesson has been completed within the first 60 days, we will put things on hold for awhile. The temps can be renewed once. You will have to contact Trinity before going to the DMV to do that though. School Closing Policy: Our policy in regard to btw lessons when the public schools close is... if the roads are fine, we're driving. If the scheduled lessons were to be done at night after school and the students are home because school is cancelled, we're going to move the btw lessons to an earlier time ( especially if the school cancels because of cold weather ). We will make a concession if the student has to babysit siblings, but otherwise, we will drive at an earlier time that day. If the student doesn't want to drive on that particular day that will be considered a missed btw appointment. If the roads are not safe, we do not drive and no fees are assessed. Parents or students can cancel any btw lesson because they fear snow-covered roads. If the cancellation is under 24 hours a $30 fee will be assessed. If the student desires to take their road test 6 months from the time they obtain their temps this may not happen if the student refuses to drive when the roads are snow covered and it is safe to do so. We do live in Wisconsin. If the roads are not safe, we cancel the btw lesson and no fees are assessed. The student's temps are valid for over 1 year now. This means that we have over 365 days to do 6 btw lessons. We will space them out appropriately. Trinity Driving School is not obligated in any way to do 6 btw lessons with a student in less than 122 days leading up to a Wisconsin road test. We will expect that the student performs their first behind the wheel lesson within 60 days of obtaining their temps, because at the DMV the student is asked that exact question, "Will you begin behind the wheel training within 60 days." If the student says, "No.", the DMV should have never issued the instructional permit. The state of WI has implemented the Road Test Waiver Program for 16 - 17 year olds. This means that the student does not have to take a road test. The student can apply for a road test waiver once they have completed all their requirements with their driving school and held their temps for at least 6 months & or are at least 16 years old. The road test waiver is not being eliminated, even though it goes against state statute. Reasons Students Fail Their Road Test: Here some driving examiner's insights as to the reasons they 'automatically fail' students... Don't know how to turn on the headlights Check the speedometer more than their mirrors Ignore checking blind spots Check the wrong blind spot before changing lanes Don't recheck mirrors after finishing a maneuver

95% of all accidents can be avoided if we are able to teach our young drivers to simply be aware when they are driving.

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