Driver Education Zoom Course

Stillwater Community Education has a partnership with Safeway Driving School to offer a convenient teen driver education program in our schools. All instructors are licensed through the Minnesota Dept of Public Safety. The program is divided into two phases:

Drivers education distance learning will be conducted virtually and students will be required to have a video camera and audio capabilities on their devices. Students will be expected to be in front of the camera and interactive for the full three hour class. Safeway will be emailing the classroom handouts and 2024 MN Driver’s Manual in pdf format for printing. Materials can be printed out at home or picked up from the Central Services Building located 1875 Greeley St in Stillwater. Safeway will be sending out an email before class begins that gives detailed information about how to login to the student's Safeway account to verify and complete contact information and to review and acknowledge our Service Agreement. 

Classroom Phase: This phase includes the required 30 hours of classroom instruction that prepares the student to take the Minnesota permit test and to take on the responsibility of driving. After-school classes are offered at Stillwater Area High School. Make-up lessons can be completed in any other Stillwater Community Education class or Safeway classroom session. Students can take class at age 14½ but cannot take their permit test until age 15.

Behind-the-Wheel Phase: After students pass the permit test, they are required to complete six hours of driving lessons. The lessons are provided in three, two-hour lessons. Lessons can be scheduled online at www.safewaydrivingschool.com

Parent Involvement: It is critical that parents plan to practice regularly with their newly permitted drivers. Safeway offers detailed information on its web site to assist parents with understanding MN laws and requirements for student drivers. There is also a bi-monthly Parent Class offered at Safeway’s Stillwater classroom. Safeway strongly encourages all parents to review its Parent Information section at www.safewaydrivingschool.com.

Fee: $434 We have two options for payment. You can pay in full up front (includes classroom instruction, materials and behind-the-wheel training). Or, you can pay $254 to secure your spot in the classroom portion. Later, $180 is due to Safeway before your student does their behind-the-wheel lessons. The fee for the program includes classroom instruction, materials and behind-the-wheel training. 

Permit and road exam fees are not included. Fee assistance may be available for those who qualify for Education Benefits (free/reduced lunch) through the local non-profit organization, Youth Advantage. Call the Community Education at 651-351-8300 for more details.