Suggested Route to School maps are the key to keeping youngsters safe when they walk or bike to school. The maps have easily understood symbols to show where crossing guards, traffic signals, and stop signs are located.

Click for a listing of schools in Lakewood from the Service Guide A-to-Z

Safely back to school in September

Getting Lakewood’s 15,000 students back to school each fall is a big job the city has quietly assisted since the 1950s. The back-to-school effort has three elements: the classroom instruction, the city’s Suggested Route to School maps, and sheriff’s traffic enforcement. Click for listing of Lakewood schools

Safety education is offered in Lakewood schools as a community service. The city-sponsored program is oriented to elementary school students and covers safe walking and bike riding guided by the suggested route map for each school prepared with the help of school principals, the sheriff’s traffic enforcement unit, and the city’s Public Works department.

“The maps show youngsters the suggested route to walk or bike to their school,” explains Crime Prevention Manager Carol Jacoby. “The maps indicate the location of crossing guards, traffic signals, and stop signs.” The city provides additional security for young pedestrians by staffing intersections along the routes with experienced crossing guards.

Still, a suggested route protects only when parents and kids are committed to being attentive drivers, walkers and bike riders. When kids bring home the map, parents should spend time going over the route, pointing out the crosswalks and intersections they’ll encounter on the way to school. Even better, parents should walk the route with their children.

Lakewood’s elementary and high school students would face one less daily hazard if some of those parents resolved to be more careful when they drop off or pick up their children. To reinforce student safety, the city has an ordinance that permits sheriff's deputies to cite thoughtless parents who drop off children in a manner that encourages students to jaywalk through traffic.

“The only safe way to drop off your youngsters,” Jacoby points out, “is to pull up to the curb in front of the school or at a safe location where youngsters can walk to the end of the block and cross to the school through an intersection controlled by a stop sign, signal, or crossing guard. Double and triple parking for a quick drop off is particularly hazardous for small children, who are invisible behind an SUV or a van until they dart in front of oncoming traffic.”

Jacoby urges parents to caution youngsters walking to school to watch out for cars pulling out of driveways. She also advises parents to instruct youngsters to wait for the crossing guard to control traffic before starting to cross the street.

Careless parents are Jacoby's greatest fear. “We do everything we can to help youngsters get safely to and from school – maps, targeted traffic law enforcement, and bike and pedestrian education programs,” Jacoby points out. “We do everything we can . . . but we can't make every parent act responsibly.”

Helpful safety tips include:

• Pedestrians should take the most direct route to and from school. Maps are sent home through Lakewood elementary schools and are also available online.
• Always stop, look all four ways and listen before crossing the street.
• Cross the street only at corners and crosswalks, not between parked cars.
• Walk or ride with a group of people; there is safety in numbers.
• Bicycles must be ridden on the right side of the road, in the direction of traffic.
• Wear a secure-fitting, safety-approved helmet when riding a bicycle, skateboard, scooter, or skates. It’s the law!
• Obey parking rules when you stop or park. Do not temporarily park where it’s illegal.
• Reduce vehicle speed to 25 mph or slower when driving in a school zone.