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NORTHWOODS PTA SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL

Northwoods
SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL!

Our Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program is an evidence-based approach to address safety concerns and provide more opportunities for our Northwoods students to walk and bike to school or at school. WCPSS joined with the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center and other partners to work with five elementary and/or middle schools to improve child pedestrian safety and support walking and/or biking to school - and Northwoods is lucky enough to be one of those schools!

As one of the five model schools in the project, Northwoods received technical assistance and funding to develop and implement a comprehensive Safe Routes to School plan. This effort also involves working with WCPSS and the Town of Cary to examine policies and practices that can improve safety.

2019-20 Walking School Bus Program

8/27/2019

These flyers should be going home next week with information on our Walking School Bus program. Note - The days for the Walking School Bus will be Mondays and Wednesdays this year, rather than the Tuesdays and Thursdays of years past. In addition, we will be running regular Bike Friday group rides from Godbold Park on Friday mornings! These will run every Friday unless temperatures are forecast to be below 45 degrees in the morning, or there is inclement weather. More information will be available on our Safe Routes Facebook page.

Click to download high res PDF

2019 Bike to School Day

4/11/2019

2018 International Walk To School Day

10/1/2018

Join students from around the world on October 10th, for International Walk to School Day! We will be gathering at the basketball court at Godbold Park between 8:10 - 8:30am for our annual group walk to school. We will be doing our scavenger hunt again this year (participants will be entered into a random drawing for a $25 REi gift card!), along with giveaways for students at the Finish Table and free Starbucks coffee for parents at the start of the walk (Consider bringing your own travel mug to cut down on waste).

Walking School Bus Program

9/19/2018

Our Walking School Bus program is back this year with an additional route from the Taylor's Pond area. In addition, we will have representatives from National Safe Routes to School coming out on Wednesday, September 26th to make a short video about our Walking School Bus program...We would love to have lots of families join us for this walk, whether you live in the area or not! Landmark Church has been kind enough to allow us to use their parking lot on Wednesdays. See the map below for directions as well as spots where we are allowed to park. We hope to see lots of students out walking this year!

National Bike to School Day is coming soon!

4/24/2018

Bike to School Contest!

3/20/2018

With National Bike to School Day coming up in May, we've decided to have a little contest to see how many students can ride their bikes to school over the next few months! If a student rides their bike to school 3 times between now and Bike to School Day, they will be entered into a prize drawing that will take place on Bike to School Day (May 9th).

How to participate:
Email northwoodssaferoutes@gmail.com to let us know the name of the student, teacher and brief description of their bike (model, color, etc.). That’s it! We will be keeping track of bikes parked at the school bike rack over the next 2 months.

Don’t have bike lock? No problem! Our Safe Routes program now has several bike locks available to check-out on the first come, first served basis. If you would like to use one of these locks, just email us a day or two before you plan to ride. We will also be having occasional group rides on Fridays, whenever the weather is nice! Keep on eye on our Safe Routes / Wellness Facebook page for more information. The route we take from Godbold Park (map is below) is also an excellent way to ride to school if you live outside comfortable cycling distance, or have safety concerns with crossing major roads on the way to Northwoods. The ride from Godbold Park is 1 mile, along the Northwoods Greenway, with only one residential street crossing. It’s a great way to start the day with your child, get a little exercise and enjoy the outdoors! We hope to see lots of folks out riding over the next few months!

You’ve Had A Successful Walk / Bike to School Day, What’s Next?

3/13/2018

We recently had the pleasure of participating as presenters in a Webinar organized by Active Routes to School and the UNC Highway Safety Research Center! You can check out the recording of the webinar below.

A record number of North Carolina schools are participating in Walk and Bike to School Day events on a regular basis, with 318 schools registered in October 2017. However, fewer schools are turning this success into ongoing walk- and bike-to school programs and walk-at-school programs. This webinar showcases five examples of North Carolina schools that have successfully created different kinds of walking and biking programs, including walk-at-school-programs. Program organizers share challenges, successes, and tips for starting a program at your school.

Presenters:

Jennifer Delcourt, Active Routes to School Region 5 Coordinator
George Berger, Active Routes to School Region 4 Coordinator
Walter Rabb, PE Instructor, Davidson Elementary School, Davidson
Jennifer Zerda, PTA Wellness Coordinator, Northwoods Elementary School, Cary
Greg Couch, PTA Safe Routes to School Coordinator, Northwoods Elementary School, Cary
Denise Ward, Walking School Bus lead teacher, Tharrington Elementary School, Mt. Airy
Bethanie Johnson, Teaching Assistant, Park Road Montessori Elementary School, Charlotte
Heather Ruckterstuhl, Teaching Assistant, Park Road Montessori Elementary School, Charlotte

Walking School Bus is back!

9/19/2017

Our Walking School Bus program is back for 2017-18! We hope to build on the success of last year, by expanding the Boundary Village School Bus to two days a week. Come on out and join us!

2017-18_northwoods_walkingschool.pdf
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Boundary St. Crosswalk Ribbon Cutting!

8/1/2017

We'd like to thanks all of our partners who helped make our priority project happen...and ahead of schedule! With the completion of the Boundary St. crosswalk improvements, the start of the 2017-18 school year will be much safer for the many students and parents who walk to school from nearby neighborhoods. The improvements will also help slow traffic on this stretch of road, which will benefit all pedestrian and bicycle traffic, entering the Northwoods Greenway at this location!

There is action on our Action Plan!

5/12/2017

Construction has begun on our priority improvement, the Boundary Street crosswalk! If you haven't seen the Northwoods Safe Routes to School Action Plan, you can check it out here. Work will likely continue into next week, so keep this in mind if you are walking to school. If you are parking your car along Boundary or W. Johnson St., we encourage you to use the school's carpool lane instead.