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Local School Project Updates
March 2009
California Local School Project
Kawana Elementary School is located in south Santa Rosa, and has a small group of parent leaders and a PTA President as the prominent members of the school team. Kawana received a three-year non-infrastructure grant for $500,000; they also received an infrastructure grant to repair sidewalks, a crosswalk, and pathway in the vicinity of the school. Some program activities currently taking place are a weekly Walk & Roll Wednesday, bicycle and pedestrian safety education with the 3rd-5th graders, and a Cycling Skills Clinic (Bike Rodeo) with the Santa Rosa Police Department and the Community Action Partnership. Walk and Roll Wednesday has been a huge success as it has enabled up to 40 or more children who normally take the bus to school, to walk at least once a week. One comment a teacher made last term was that this program has really had an affect on student attitudes about walking to school. Where previously it may have been seen as a chore – now, a lot of kids realize it is a lot of fun. On Walk and Roll to School Day in October 2008, over 75% of the students walked or rolled to school, an increase of approximately 25%.
District of Columbia Local School Project
DC Preparatory Academy is our local school in Washington, DC. The school team at DC Prep is comprised of school administrators, staff and teachers, local law enforcement officers, parents, the DDOT Safe Routes to School Coordinator, DDOT consultants, a local community center founder, and a Kaiser/HEAL representative. DC Prep applied for and was chosen to receive Safe Routes to School Planning Assistance. The school is currently in the process of completing the plan and they will receive assistance with the implementation of the short-term measures in the plan. Planned encouragement activities for the spring include remote drop-off piloting, similar to that initiated on Walk to School Day, to ease traffic congestion and increase safety on the streets near the school, and a classroom walking contest. DC Prep is fortunate to have a parent who is also a local police officer; she has helped greatly in implementing enforcement activities. Over 100 students and a substantial number of parents and volunteers participated in Walk to School Day. Parent interest and involvement has been an early success of the SRTS program at DC Prep. 2008 was the first year that this school participated in Walk to School Day, and twice as many students participated as expected and three to four times as many parents participated as expected.
Georgia Local School Project
Knollwood Elementary’s local school team in Dekalb County is made up of a parent champion, neighborhood volunteers, county representatives (from health and community development), and members of the Healthy Belvedere Initiative (a Kaiser Permanente program). An application for state SRTS funds was submitted in December, and the school team expects to hear if it was accepted in March 2009. In the meantime, Knollwood has received funding from the Healthy Belvedere Intiative totaling just over $7,000 for policy implementation, environmental change, and programmatic activities. They currently have walking school buses on Walking Wednesdays and a classroom competition where classes compete based on the number of walking trips they make each month. The county police help with some of their events. Raffle ticketsare handed to students who participate in Walking Wednesdays, and there will be drawing for a new bike during the field day event in May. An early success was when 90 people participated in their Walking Wednesday “Cupcakes and Conversation” event. The idea was to get parents to walk with their children and meet their neighbors, and almost 20 parents participated.
Illinois Local School Project
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School in Urbana has a local school team with core members including the principal, city representatives, and the Mass Transit District. The City of Urbana received $85,000 for improved signage around school zones, and $25,000 for SRTS trainings for the community from the first state SRTS application cycle. King School has hosted a Walk to School Day Event, a cycling skills clinic, conducted bike giveaways with a local bicycle co-op, and will be debuting its first Walking School Bus route this spring. They have had input from the Urbana Police Department along the way, and an officer has attended several meetings of the school team and the Walking School bus trainings. A major success for King School is the Mayor of Urbana’s great interest in the progress of the project. She has vowed to support walking to school by ensuring that snow is cleared from walking routes.
Kentucky Local School Project
The primary members of the local school team at Lebanon Elementary in Lebanon include a PE teacher, the School Resource Officer and Chief of Police, and the City Administrator, among others. The school team is currently working on an application for state SRTS funding. Currently, there are three different walking school bus routes coming into the elementary school. An emphasis on bicycling is planned in late April with a cycling skills clinic and a Bike to School Day promotional event. The walking school buses have shown that with the assistance of local captains, children can walk to school safely. The Chief of Police and the School Resource Officer have assisted with the events planned by the school.
Louisiana Local School Project
At Drew Elementary School in New Orleans, a bike lane has been striped on the main street that passes in front of the school and serves as a state highway. The first ever bike lane in New Orleans, this early success was spearheaded by members of the school team, which includes the Louisiana Public Health Institute, Tulane University, and the Recovery School District. SafeKids helped to sponsor Walk and Bike to School Day in October 2008.
New York Local School Project
The Hamlin Park Taxpayers Association have been the leading members of the local school team at Hamlin Park School #74 in Buffalo. The school received an award of $550,000 from the state SRTS program - $400,000 for infrastructure and $150,000 for non-infrastructure. Infrastructure improvements will include new curb ramps, marked crosswalks and enhanced treatments, new signage, and pedestrian countdown timers, among others improvements. Non-infrastructure components such as a Walking School Bus and Bicycle Train program will also be implemented. Initial program activities included a Recycle-A-Bicycle program. The school team has been facing issues with the City getting contracts moving forward to fully implement the non-infrastructure program, but planning meetings were held to get the full program launched this spring. An early success was a neighborhood tree planting along all the routes to the school and within the community - a known traffic calming device - more than 273 trees were planted by 150 volunteers,
Oklahoma Local School Project
The local school team at Highland Park Elementary School in Stillwater has representatives from the police department, public works department, PTA, President and Superintendent at the school, and students. Highland Park is submitting an application for the second cycle of Oklahoma state SRTS funding. October 2008’s Walk to School Day was a big success with over 60% of the students participating. Many parents participated with their children. A number of them were very enthusiastic of the Safe Routes concept and indicated that they would like to participate in Walking Wednesdays, Walking School Buses, and other such encouragement programs. The school will begin Walking Wednesdays right after spring break. They are also planning some special event days such as the First Day of Spring Walk, and Earth Day Walk. The City of Stillwater recently repainted the crosswalks around the school. The Highland Park principal, Kurt Baze, has been very active in devising a traffic pattern around the school at arrival and departure times to reduce congestion and make it safer for children to get to their pickup points or to their walking routes. The Stillwater Assistant Police Chief has offered to participate in a crossing guard training program, and the School Resource Officer is participating actively in the program at Highland Park.
Texas Local School Project
Johnson Elementary in the Bryan Independent School District is our Texas local school. Leading members of the school team include the Principal, PE teacher and other teachers, parents, law enforcement, and the PTA. The call for the next round of state SRTS applications is tentatively scheduled for late Summer 2009, and Johnson Elementary will apply for funding in that round. Local advocates are currently building their school team, and will be developing an action plan for this spring as well as scheduling activities for the 2009-2010 school year, such as International Walk/Bike to School Day in October.
Virginia Local School Project
Mount Vernon Community School (MVCS) is located in Alexandria. Leading members of the local school team include a school nurse, the PTA President, and the SRTS National Partnership’s Technical Service Provider. The PTA established a health and wellness sub-committee that provides parental input and volunteer efforts. MVCS applied for federal funding in Virginia’s call for state SRTS applications and is awaiting notice of funding. Current program activities at MVCS include a regular monthly raffle using a punch card system that encourages the kids to walk to and from school or during recess. This has been on-going since October 2008 and will continue through the end of the year. The school team is currently planning several spring programs - Walk 2 School Day on Earth Day, and a Bicycle Skills Session in May, with plans for local law enforcement to be present at both. In late April, a Walking Wednesday club will begin at the school to encourage more walking. An early success at MVCS is that they succeeded in convincing the school to allow bused kids to participate in the W2SDays both last fall and this coming spring, by having them dropped off at an off-site location to walk with the other students. They have also secured three or four bicycle racks that will be installed in Spring 2009.
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