Montgomery Middle Grant Will Help Students Get Safely to School

Montgomery Middle School will begin a volunteer Safe Passage and Violence Prevention Coalition among students, school officials, parents and law enforcement thanks to a $1,000 grant from the National Center for Safe Routes to School.

The school's Volunteer Parent Safety Patrol will provide adult supervision on street corners along routes to school in order to address the fears of gangs and bullying that were reported by students in the school's 2009 Safe Passage Survey. Brochures and outreach fliers will inform parents and community members about Safe Passage efforts and will educate them about available resources and the health benefits of choosing walking and bicycling.

In addition, bicycle helmets will be purchased with the grant. They will provide basic protective equipment to students who cannot afford to purchase the equipment on their own.

Safe Routes to School programs are sustained efforts by schools, parents, schoolchildren, community leaders and local, state, federal and tribal governments to enable and encourage more children to walk and bicycle to school. The National Center, which serves as the clearinghouse for the federal Safe Routes program, received 212 eligible Safe Routes mini-grant applications from schools and community organizations nationwide during this fifth award cycle.

Proposals selected in the highly competitive process distinguished themselves by identifying a need and proposing a sustainable program to address it.

For more information on Montgomery Middle School, contact Jonathan Ton, principal, at (858) 496-8330.