WORCESTER—Efforts to make walking, biking, and rolling to school safer for Worcester students earned city and school officials statewide recognition this week.
The Worcester Public Schools and the city’s Department of Transportation and Mobility received an honorable mention from the Massachusetts Safe Routes to School program at its annual awards ceremony, held June 2 at the State House in Boston.
According to a Worcester Public Schools announcement, the district’s Office of School Safety and the city department were recognized for creating the Worcester Safe Routes to School Task Force — a group designed to promote local engagement with the program’s mission and goals.
Safe Routes to School, now celebrating its 20th anniversary, supports student safety initiatives guided by six core tenets: educate, encourage, engage, evaluate, equity, and engineering. The program works with schools and communities statewide to improve conditions for students who walk, bike, or use other means to travel to and from school.
Several individual Worcester schools also received recognition for their participation in Safe Routes to School activities and events:
Gold Level Partners
- Belmont Street Community School
- Grafton Street Elementary School
Bronze Level Partners
- City View Elementary School
- Gates Lane Elementary School
- Lincoln Street School
- Roosevelt Elementary School
“We are very proud of our Gold and Bronze level Worcester Public Schools for the work that they are doing to engage with students and their caregivers to be safe pedestrians,” said Dr. Matt Morse, director of safety for the Worcester Public Schools, in the release.
The district’s growing participation in the Safe Routes to School initiative reflects a broader commitment to student well-being and mobility safety across Worcester, officials noted.
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