Walk to school safely on Tuesday

Evanston/Skokie School District 65 is encouraging parents, especially fathers, to walk their children to school on the first day, which is Tuesday, Sept. 4.

The Evanston Fire Department is cooperating in the venture by providing firefighters along the way to greet the kids and hand out safety stickers. 

If you must drive your child to school, the district recommends that you park a couple of blocks away from school and walk your child the rest of the way so they won’t miss out on the fun as well as the opportunity to learn safe walking habits. 

The district website has maps for each school that indicate the safest routes for walking to those schools.

 It also lists safe walking tips that they hope parents will review with their children before they head off for school.

The City’s Public Works Department will install solar-powered, push-button-activated LED blinker school signs at some designated crossings without traffic signals or stop signs. To draw the driver’s attention to the crossing, the pedestrian needs to push the button to activate the LED lights.

The pedestrian should start crossing the street once the driver comes to a stop.

The city also will paint a safety marker at each designated school route crossing. Students should cross at these locations, officials advise.