All Aboard! Walking School Bus is Here

After months of planning, organizing, recruiting, training, marketing and PR, the Walking School Bus at is up and running... or should I say "walking."

We had a tremendous turn out on launch day, and myself and six other volunteers walked 60 children to school. There were many parents, siblings, dogs, wagons and strollers, marching alongside the sea of children walking happily to school.

The children were greeted by an enormous cut out of a yellow school bus, which they enjoyed walking with. Another highlight was being escorted by a Hermosa Beach police officer on his motorcycle. To make the launch day even more special, all the students who participated were given Surprise Bags, filled with fun.

Currently, we are in need of improvements and enforcement to make our route to school an ideal and safe environment. I have a meeting scheduled with the city on Thursday to discuss re-painting, existing, faded crosswalks bright yellow, changing the timer at a busy intersection so our students have enough time to walk across the street safely, posting WSB signs on existing poles, and having the police patrol our route during our Walking School Bus times. This will encourage drivers to use caution and watch their speed.

How does a Walking School Bus (WSB) work?

Parents are able to drop off their children at any one of our WSB stops. Our students will be greeted by a WSB Leader (a parent volunteer) and be supervised while they walk to school with their peers. All our parent volunteers/WSB leaders must pass a police background check, have a TB test, and pass Megan's Law before they qualify.

To establish the safe route to school, I consulted the Hermosa Beach Police Department, and city officials to locate ideal stops. I made a point of making our designated stops at locations where there were crosswalks so children could safely cross the street, and wide sidewalks were a key factor as well.

The Walking School Bus has had an average of 40 Hermosa View students per day. It will be interesting to see if walking with the bus will wain or, if we will continue to grow in the months ahead, especially as we are coming into winter, which will mean some rainfall, and cooler mornings.....but that won’t stop the Walking School Bus, it will depart everyday, rain or shine!

Why walk to school? Research has proven that children who walk are:

• Are more alert and ready to learn;
• learn how to be a safe pedestrian;
• help reduce traffic;
• connect with their neighborhood;
• lower their chance of obesity and other childhood related diseases.

Wouldn’t you like your children to reap the benefits of a healthy lifestyle? All you have to do is drop them off at any one of our designated stops EVERYDAY!

WSB Stops and Departure Times
Hollowell/Prospect     8:00 a.m.
6th St./Prospect         8:05 a.m.
9th St./Prospect         8:10 a.m.
15th St./Prospect       8:20 a.m.