Culver City Students Join International Walk To School Day

CULVER CITY, CA — The Culver City Walk & Rollers will kick off Walktober and Clean Air Day by participating in International Walk to School Day on Wednesday, October 2.

Schools in the Culver City Unified School District (CCUSD) will join millions of kids around the world in this international celebration, the City press release said. Last year, more than 5,600 schools in the U.S. hosted walk to school events in October to support a growing trend of walking and biking more to school.

Culver City’s official kick-off site will be at City Hall (9770 Culver Boulevard), starting at 8 a.m.

"Over the past several years, Culver City has made great strides in helping kids get to school by walking, biking, scootering and riding the bus," said Culver City Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells. "This gives students healthy exercise, while also improving air quality and traffic in our neighborhoods, and it’s fun! International Walk to School Day celebrates this shift from cars to active transportation, and I very much look forward to walking to school with our students on October 2."

Each school has a specific meetup site and a plan to walk to school as a group, led by parent volunteers, the press release said. Each school counts the number of students participating, and awards prizes to the classes with the most walkers. Mayor Sahli-Wells and CCUSD School Board President Kelly Kent will join one of the largest groups, Linwood E. Howe's Dance-Walk-to-School Party, at City Hall.

Families are encouraged to take advantage of their school's Walk to School Day event to learn about the best walking routes to school, make friends to walk with, and build a new habit of driving less and walking more. Walking to school helps reduce traffic around schools, frees up parking for those who need it and "provides an easy opportunity to teach their kids about traffic and pedestrian safety," the City said.

"More kids than ever are walking and biking to our schools," said Culver City Safe Routes to School Coordinator Jim Shanman. "Our most recent Safe Routes to School survey shows that 38 percent of CCUSD students walk to school regularly. When combined with the use of bikes and scooters, nearly half of CCUSD students get to school without a car most days!"

Culver City is becoming a local leader in improving safety around school sites by walking and biking to school more often — especially compared to the 10% national average of kids walking to school.

International Walk to School Day "raises awareness of the need to create safer routes for walking and bicycling and emphasizes the importance of issues such as increasing physical activity among children, pedestrian safety, traffic congestion and concern for the environment," the City said. The event is meant to build connections between families, schools and the community.

The Culver City Walk to School Day events are part of a citywide program that includes regular walk to school days, PE safety instruction for pedestrians and cyclists, community rides and classes, as well as coordination with Culver City on school-related infrastructure improvements. The program is sponsored by the City of Culver City and CCUSD and overseen by Jim Shanman.

For more information, visit:

• Culver City Safe Routes to School
• Walk Bike to School Day
• National Center for Safe Routes to School