About Us

TransForm is the lead agency for the Safe Routes to Schools Alameda County Partnership.

Our other partners include:

• Cycles of Change (www.cyclesofchange.org): Cycles of Change works to improve the health and sustainability of our neighborhoods by increasing the use of bicycles as transportation, connecting youth with the extraordinary living systems of our local area, and building a diverse community of visionary young leaders. Click here to find out information on the SR2S bicycle education resources offered by Cycles of Change. 
• Alameda County Public Health Department (www.acphd.org): The mission of the Alameda County Public Health Department (ACPHD) is to work in partnership with the community to ensure the optimal health and well being of all people.  The ACPHD has worked for over 50 years to improve the health and safety of its residents and the neighborhoods they live in. 

Other agencies and organizations with whom we collaborate include Supervisors Nate Miley and Alice Lai-Bitker; Berkeley Public Health Department; Oakland, Berkeley, San Lorenzo, Albany, Hayward, and San Leandro School Districts; Oakland and Berkeley Police Departments; California Highway Patrol; Alameda County Sheriff’s Office; Cities of Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Dublin, Oakland, Pleasanton and San Leandro; and Alta Planning and Design.

Our Funders: Safe Routes to Schools is funded in part with a major grant from Measure B -- Alameda County’s half cent transportation sales tax (administered by Alameda County Transportation Improvement Authority (ACTIA). We are also grateful for our other generous funders: Kaiser Permanente, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Laurel Foundation and Caltrans.

Safe Routes to Schools Movement:

Safe Routes to Schools is an international movement, with programs in more than 40 countries and all 50 states. All programs share the following five components:

• Encouragement - Events, contests and promotional materials are incentives that encourage children and parents to try walking and biking. We can provide your community with promotional and contest materials, and ongoing consultation.
• Education - Our popular puppet show assembly,  features songs and rhymes teaching key messages about pedestrian and bike safety, health, and the joys of active transportation to school. Our K-5 Walk and Roll Educator Guid provides classroom activities that teach children the skills necessary to navigate through busy streets and persuade them to be active participants in the program, and includes activities on health and the environment.
•  Engineering – We examine the physical barriers that prohibit children from safely navigating the routes to schools. Through "walk audits" we partner with engineering experts who can assist your community in learning how to evaluate streets and provide the tools to create a safer environment
• Enforcement – We partner with law enforcement to work for improved traffic safety around schools. Driver’s education is even more effective in changing the behavior of harried parents and commuters who are not paying attention to the children on the roads. We have accumulated some of the best tools in the country to assist you in developing a comprehensive traffic safety program.
• Evaluation - The Alameda County Department of Public Health will conduct thorough evaluation of our program and individual components. Evaluation outcomes will inform us on how to make our programs even better and ensure equity in the schools we're working with.

Read more about the Safe Routes to Schools national and international movement:

• National Safe Routes to Schools Partnership
• National Center for Safe Routes to Schools
• Marin County Safe Routes to Schools Program
• England's Safe Routes to Schools program

Participating Schools: Click here to find out if your school has a Safe Routes to Schools program.

Bring Safe Routes to Your School

Download 2011/2012 Safe Routes to Schools application:

• High School Application
• Elementary/Middle School Application

Safe Routes to School has helped to bring awareness of traffic issues, physical fitness, and safety to our school community. I love how this program involves the entire community and benefits our students' lives before, during and after school. Their staff is a pleasure to work with and the entire service to our school is FREE!
- Victoria Forrester, Principal, Roosevelt Elementary, San Leandro

One of the best civic education AND service action resources I have ever come across. When community partnerships engage an issue deeply enough, transformative action in neighborhoods ensues. Teachers, please get on board with their training and invite your students' parents and principals to bring SRTS resources to your school and district. Together, we are really making a difference from the grassroots up.
- Vince J. Rosato, 4-5 teacher at Searles Elementary, NHUSD, Union City.

Watch the video about the Safe Routes to Schools Alameda County Program 

Want to get your school involved in the Alameda County Safe Routes to Schools program? Here's how:

1. Find out if your school already has a program. View participating schools. If so, contact your school's Safe Routes liaison to volunteer for program activities.
2. If you don’t find your school on this list, read our materials for parents, principals and teachers to learn about the range of program activities that Safe Routes to Schools offers schools.
3. Contact our office today to get your school signed up for program activities. Call us at (510) 740-3150, ext 323 or email SR2S@TransFormCA.org.

Ways We Inspire Biking

Why bike to school? It's great exercise, helps reduce pollution, and is fun, of course!

Safe Routes to Schools inspires kids to bike more often by encouraging bicyling to school on Walk and Roll to school days, we help schools acquire bike racks to bikes can be safely locked up at school has we inspire more kids to bike more often.

Cycles of Change, a Key Partner

We are thrilled to be working with the award-winning Cycles of Change program to offer comprehensive activities that teach bicycle safety on busy urban streets and encourage students to ride to school.

Cycles of Change works to improve the health and sustainability of our neighborhoods by increasing the use of bicycles as transportation, connecting youth with the extraordinary living systems of our local area, and building a diverse community of visionary young leaders.

The organization began in 1998 at Roosevelt Middle School in East Oakland and has grown steadily to sites in Oakland, Alameda, and Berkeley.

Helpful Resources on Biking

Are you excited to ride with your children but wanting tips to ensure a safe ride?

Here are some useful websites:

City of Berkeley Public Health Department

Biking Tips for the Whole Family

Kids and Bicycle Safety

Bicycle Safety Links

Tips for buying a bicycle:

Video: Tips for Buying Bike for Kids

Cycles of Change Bike Shop

Programs and Activities

Read About All of the Biking Programs and Activities:

• Bike Trains
• Free Bike Rodeos
• Bike to School Day
• Bicycle Clinics
• Sustainable Bicycle PE and After School Programs

Bike Trains

Like our walking school bus program, bike trains organize groups of parents and kids who ride together from the same neighborhood along a designated route. Berkeley's Thousand Oaks Elementary has organized its bike trains into a Bike Club and even created a video: "Ride On."

If you would like help organizing a bike train at your school, please contact Rachel.  We are happy to provide support through a training session and suggested routes. 

Free Bike Rodeos

The East Bay Bicycle Coalition and Safe Routes to Schools Alameda County/Transform and Cycles of Change are offering Kids Bike Rodeos at schools in Alameda County starting in Fall 2009–absolutely free of charge! To have a team of youth cycling instructors conduct a 1-3 hour fun-filled bike rodeo, simply submit a one-page application to Dave Campbell of the EBBC by September 18, 2009. 

Students will learn how to fit a helmet, how to perform a pre-ride safety check , proper starting and stopping technique, riding in a straight line, hand signaling and the advanced skill of Shoulder Checking. The Kids Bike Rodeos are for 4th and 5th grade students. We can provide bikes.

The eligibility requirements for schools are the following:

• A minimum 30 students and maximum of 80 ( We work in groups of 15-20 students 45 minutes per/group
• School staff supervision
• Available parking lot or playground area at least 100" x 30"

For more information about The Kids Bike Rodeos, including the application form, please click here:  

Bike to School Day

Similar to Walk to School Days, Bike to School Days encourage kids who have bikes to use these wonderful machines to get to school. We provide materials, safety flyers, and giveaways for any schools in the county that wish to celebrate this activity.

Bicycle Clinics

This parent-child workshop is designed to give the next generation of cyclists (and their parents) the skills and confidence to ride their bikes on today's roads. This three-hour course provides blacktop and on-the-road activities that will assist young people in developing bike control, safety navigation skills and a clear understanding of the rules of the road. Bike clinics may be requested by individual schools.

Sustainable Bicycle PE and After School Programs

“Drive Your Bike” is a 6 hour on-the-bike training for grades 4-8.   Students learn how to perform a bike safety check, adjust their helmet, use hand signals, obey traffic laws, maneuver through live intersections and safely navigate their school's neighborhood by bike. We provide the bikes and helmets if the school can provide secure storage. 

The goal of this program is to train school providers in our curriculum so they may continue teaching it without our instructors.  This is achieved by our instructors modeling the curriculum with students until the school providers are ready to take over the program with the help of parent volunteers and the continued use of our materials.

Visit Cycles of Change for more details about this program,

For School Champions and Parents

Safe Routes to Schools Champions are the backbone of our program!

Our volunteer parents, teachers and administrators are the liaisons between the school and the Safe Routes staff, supporting and organizing program activities. Our enthusiastic School Champions:

• Help to organize exciting program activities such as the Walking School Bus.
• Attend monthly Task Force meetings to stay in touch with program activities. Find out more about Task Force meetings and which one you belong to here.
• Help to organize parent workshops. We organize and teach customized workshops with safety themes for PTA's and other parent meetings. We have led workshops on pedestrian safety, stranger safety and walking school buses.
• Watch the video about the Safe Routes to Schools Alameda County Program

Volunteer to support the Safe Routes Champion at your school!

Find out who your School Champion is and contact him/her today to help support walking and bicycling to school. If your school does not have a Safe Routes program yet, contact the Safe Routes staff: sr2s@transformca.org and consider volunteering to become a School Champion.

Safe Routes to Schools Monthly Themes

Annually across the world International Walk to School Day is celebrated on the first Wednesday in October. To keep the messages alive and to increase the number of students walking and biking to school on a daily basis schools are encouraged to get involved in sponsoring Monthly Walk and Roll to School Days.

Monthly Walk and Roll to School Days give students something to look forward to and something to work towards. To encourage this effort we provide themes each month along with a simple activity to motivate students and to reinforce all of the important reasons for walking or biking to school. Monthly Walk and Roll to School Days are coordinated at many schools by the Parent Champion. If you need support in getting a Monthly Walk and Roll program off the ground contact Nora Cody. 

Please check back in the Fall to see the activities for each month. The following is subject to change.

October: International Walk or Roll to School Day

November: Thanks for Giving

December: Community Collection

January: A Pledge for You - A Pledge for the Environment

February: Healthy Hearts

March: Pollution Solution - Pollution Solution Be a Hero Activity Sheet

April: Earth Month

May: Bike to School Month

For Principals and Teachers

See the video about the Safe Routes to Schools Alameda County Program

Safe Routes to Schools offers exciting educational programs to Alameda County schools, from our highly-acclaimed Walk and Roll Puppet Show Assembly to our standards-based educator guide.

• Walk and Roll Puppet Show Assembly
• K-5 Educator Guide
• Middle School Educator Guide
• Monthly Themes
• Become a Teacher Champion

Walk and Roll Puppet Show Assembly

This engaging 30- minute assembly for K-5,  brought to you by the Big Tadoo Puppet Crew, is an excellent way to kick off a Safe Routes to School campaign at your school or boost enthusiasm for an ongoing program.

The Walk and Roll Puppet Show Assembly  follows four characters as they journey to school. Through music, songs and dance the Big Tadoo Puppet Crew delivers messages about walking and biking safely, smart decision making, reducing pollution, and creating  strong and healthy communities.

Request an assembly for your school by filling out the Walk and Roll Puppet Show Assembly Request Form.

If you have questions contact Nora Cody .

Walk and Roll K-5 Educator Guide: Activities for Creating Safe and Healthy Communities

This educator guide provides teachers and afterschool program providers with easy-to-teach, standards-based activities that include  themes such as pedestrian safety, community,  impact of travel on climate change and our health, and making smart choices. The guide connects all components of our program and is a great way to support the Safe Routes to Schools messages in your classroom and after school.

The Educator Guide comes in a binder complete with a DVD and book. For more details and to download the guide click here.

If you are affiliated with a school outside of Alameda County and would like a complete Educator Guide please call contact Rachel Davidman, (510) 740-3150 Ext. 332.

Middle School Educator Guide

We are currently in the process of developing an educator guide for middle schools. Our goal is to engage middle school students in the important messages of the Safe Routes to Schools program, beyond the cycling program currently provided by our partner Cycles of Change. These activities will be suited to be delivered in leadership classes, afterschool clubs, or science classes. We want to empower students to be critical thinkers and for them to be an advocate for positive change in their communities. Stay tuned for our new project based middle school educator guide. If you are an interested teacher or educator please contact Rachel Davidman for more information.

Safe Routes to Schools Monthly Themes

Annually across the world International Walk to School Day is celebrated on the first Wednesday in October. To keep the messages alive and to increase the number of students walking and biking to school on a daily basis schools are encouraged to get involved in sponsoring Monthly Walk and Roll to School Days.

Monthly Walk and Roll to School Days give students something to look forward to and something to work towards. To encourage this effort we provide themes each month along with a simple activity to motivate students and to reinforce all of the important reasons for walking or biking to school. Monthly Walk and Roll to School Days are coordinated at many schools by the Parent Champion. If you need support in getting a Monthly Walk and Roll program off the ground contact Nora Cody. 

Please check back in the Fall to see the activities for each month. The following is subject to change.

October: International Walk or Roll to School Day

November: Thanks for Giving

December: Community Collection

January: A Pledge for You - A Pledge for the Environment

February: Healthy Hearts

March: National Nutrition Month

April: Earth Month

May: Bike to School Month

Become a Teacher Champion for the Safe Routes to Schools Program!

We are looking for teachers to make a small commitment to this important program by:

• Making occasional announcements about Safe Routes to Schools activities at staff meetings;
• Staying in communication with the Safe Routes to Schools Parent Champion at your school, who helps to organize Walk (and Bike) to School Days, puppet shows, parent workshops, and other Safe Routes programs; and
• Encouraging your students to participate in Walk to School Day, contests and other Safe Routes activities.
• Sign up for the K-5 Educator Guide and receive one in-class acitivity conducted by the Safe Routes Staff, a teacher training for you and other interested staff, priority scheduling for the Walk & Roll Puppet Assembly, ( if your school has not already received this program component ) and access to our bike blender for a special class event.

Interested? Contact Rachel Davidman

Safety First

Every Safe Routes to Schools program activity offers a safety component, but the following activities focus exclusively on education and engineering to increase the safety of children walking and bicycling to school:

We work to improve infrastructure around schools:

Walk Audits: A School Walk Audit is a school/community event used to identify and evaluate the safety issues around a school, after Safe Routes to Schools staff and the school community have determined that engineering/infrastructure treatments are the most appropriate solution for that school. The School Walk Audit typically focuses on a single school and encompasses a maximum of ¼ mile distance in any direction from the school.  Participants in the Walk Audit traditionally include school parents, staff, and sometimes students; city or county planners and engineers, neighbors, traffic safety officers, and local elected officials.  Walk Audits are led by a planning and design firm experienced in working with Safe Routes to School programs.

 When do you have a walk audit?
 

Before deciding to hold a walk audit you need to carefully assess the main safety concerns at the school site. Sometimes these concerns are best addressed through non-engineering solutions and will not require a full walk audit.  Here are some examples:

• Drop-off zone is very congested and unmanageable

• Is driver behavior the main problem here?  Is the location of the drop-off zone problematic?  In these situations, the first step will be to observe the drop-off zone and decide whether re-location or driver education are the best solutions.

• Drivers are double parking in the street, making unsafe U-turns, and otherwise driving in an unsafe manner.  Again, this may be a situation best addressed through a driver education campaign coupled with staff or parent volunteer monitoring of the pickup and drop-off.

If the concerns center on unsafe intersections, lack of or inadequate signage, or other infrastructure issues, engineering solutions may be appropriate. Safe Routes to Schools offers school walk audits on a limited basis.  Contact us to request a walk audit, and complete this form. 

After the Audit: Conceptual Plans  

After the audit, the consulting engineer draws up a conceptual plan to reflect the safety concerns and some possible solutions to make the streets and intersections safer.  Here is a sample conceptual plan.  The plan is then sent back to the school so that the school community can review it and make sure the plan reflects their concerns.  Once we reach consensus, the plans are presented to the local Public Works Department, and we request a meeting between Public Works, the school community, and Safe Routes to Schools staff.  Sometimes the Public Works Department can address safety hazards through such treatments as crosswalk re-painting, additional signage, and other city-based solutions.  For larger and more expensive infrastructure improvements, public works will need to apply for federal and state Safe Routes to Schools grants.

Parent Workshops:

We also believe strongly in educating parents to teach their children about safety. We organize and teach customized workshops with safety themes for PTA's and other parent meetings. The 20-30 minute-long Workshops are interactive and include the following suggested themes:

• Pedestrian Safety: We provide parents with a background on how kids see differently than adults and how to model, coach and observe youth’s pedestrian habits.
• Be Safe Be Strong; Safety with Strangers: Keeping students safe with strangers while walking is of great concern to all parents. Using information we have obtained from experts in the field, Safe Routes to School staff will provide parents with some basic tools, resources and hands-on activities that address this important topic.
• Bike Train and Walking School Bus Training Session: This session equips parents with everything they need to launch a School Bus program, including vests,stops signs and pedestrian safety tips; as well as logistical organization and support. The Walking School Bus is a proven method using the simple strategy of encouraging students to walk or bike to school in groups supervised by parents or other adults.

Participating Schools

Program News

Ready to be inspired? Read What's Rolling On? The Safe Routes to Schools newsletter featuring the latest and greatest of our program activities.

Download our Fall 2011 newsletter:  English | Spanish

Download our Spring 2011 newsletter:  English | Spanish

Download our Fall 2010 newsletter:  English | Spanish

MEDIA RELEASE

Contact: Nora Cody, 510-213-4496

Alameda County Receives $2 Million from Feds for Safe Routes to Schools

Kids and families throughout Alameda County can look forward to safer streets, bike rodeos, walking school buses and more thanks to the award of over $2 million in 5 federally funded Safe Routes to Schools grants.  This week Caltrans announced the recipients of Cycle 3 federally funded grants to improve school safety. Click here for full press release.

Third Graders Make Donation to Safe Routes to Schools

Safe Routes to Schools was surprised and delighted to receive a Tzadakeh gift from the third grade Alef Ket class at the Temple Israel religious school in Alameda.

Each of the classes chose an environmental organization to receive their contributions, and Alef Ket decided to give their donations to Safe Routes to Schools. Program director Nora Cody accepted the contribution and spoke to the children at their end of the year celebration on May 15, 2011. Thank you Temple Israel!

International Walk and Roll to School Week

International Walk or Roll to School Week 2010 - A Great Success

Congratulations to all of the students, parents and teachers who walked or rolled to school during the week of October 4-8. With 70 schools participating, Alameda County joined schools all over the world to celebrate and increase awareness about the joys and benefits of walking or rolling to school.

We hope that each school will use the excitement and enthusiasm that was generated in October to continue to do monthly or even weekly Walk or Roll to School Days and/or to continue to work on ways to increase the number of students that walk or roll to school.

This county-wide event would not have been possible without the generous support from the following: All of the parent and community champions and volunteers, County Supervisor Nate Miley, County Supervisor Alice Lai-Bitker, City of Alameda Public Works Department, Audrey Lord-Hausman from Pedestrian Friendly Alameda, Aleida Andrino-Chavez, City of Albany transportation planner; City of San Leandro Police Department, City of San Leandro Transportation & Engineering Department, San Leandro city councilmember Michael Gregory, San Leandro Mayor Tony Santos, Oakland City Council members Jean Quan and Pat Kernighan,Carmela Chase, Oakland department of human services, Cycles of Change, Richmond Spokes, Alameda County Public Health Department -- Nutrition Services and Injury Prevention, CommPre’s Jesse Garrett, Alameda County Community Food Bank, Alameda County Public Works Department (Paul Keener), Office of Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley (Anna Gee), Alameda County Probation Dept., Alameda County Redevelopment Agency, Deputy Sheriff's Activities League (DSAL)/Furthering Youth Inspirations (FYI)-Aiyana Knowles.

To see photos of students, parents and volunteers in Walk or Roll action at various schools around the county, be sure to visit our Facebook page.

International Walk to School in the USA                     www.walktoschool.org                        

NationalCenterfor Safe Routes to School                www.saferoutesinfo.org

International Walk to School                                        www.iwalktoschool.org

Training and Consulting

Starting a Safe Routes to Schools program or want to make your program even more successful?

We offer tailor-made trainings and consulting services with experts who have successfully worked in all kinds of elementary and middle schools. We also provide ready to use materials, templates, and curriculum. Trainings and consulting are offered on a fee-for-service basis. Contact Nora Cody for rates.