At the early hour of 5 a.m., middle school Jewish Text teacher Rabbi Marci Aronchick gets dressed and eats breakfast before her lengthy commute from Baltimore to Rockville. Aronchick is one of many CESJDS teachers and students who face extended drives to school each day.

Aronchick’s commute generally takes an hour. She leaves her apartment in the Baltimore suburbs at 6:30 a.m. to arrive at school by 7:30. If she makes good time, she may even stop at Dunkin’ Donuts to grab a cup of coffee before getting to JDS.

While Aronchick said she has in some ways become accustomed to the long drive to school, she said it can be frustrating at times.

“I do appreciate the fact that I get some like quiet time to myself [during the commute] even though there is the stress of making sure I am safe in my car, but just like some time to process through things, to sort of think,” Aronchick said. “I will often do like in-my-head lesson planning in the car, especially in the afternoons, I use a headset and I will make phone calls to friends or like business phone calls if I have to do them.”

Similar to Aronchick’s mornings, freshman Jacob Svoysky has to wake up earlier than most because he lives in Germantown, Md. He wakes up at 6:25 a.m. and, depending on traffic, leaves his house at around 7 a.m. to arrive at school by 7:55 a.m.

“[The commute] not easy, but I wouldn’t say it’s too stressful, unless like I know I have to get to school early for something,” Svoysky said. “Then it’s like a little bit more stressful…. Usually, the traffic is pretty awful.”

Junior Doron Polonetsky, however, lives in close proximity to JDS and needs just 10 to 15 minutes to drive to school in the morning. Polonetsky, a Rockville resident, will wake up between 7:00 and 7:30 in the morning and makes time for eating a small breakfast in addition to getting ready for the school day. Polonetsky feels that his speedy commute is efficient and easy.

“I go pick up a friend [in the morning] and then drive to school. Usually, it will be my parents [driving] because I don’t have my license yet,” Polonetsky said.