Safe Routes to School offers curriculum to help educators teach transportation safety for students from elementary to high school, including pedestrian safety education, bike safety education, transportation safety education, and the Transportation Academy.
Pedestrian safety education
Bring pedestrian safety education to your students through a health or physical education (PE) setting! Safe Routes to School staff will provide free train-the-trainer education to get you started and feeling confident with skills and information.
What is pedestrian safety education?
The pedestrian safety education curriculum uses PE games and movement to teach pedestrian and personal safety skills. Our goal is to help students feel safe getting where they need to go free from threat and fear of emotional, psychological, and physical harm.
Who is it designed for?
The pedestrian safety education curriculum is designed for elementary school classes. It was developed in partnership with PE teachers and is aligned with Oregon Department of Education's PE Standards.
How does it work?
The Safe Routes to School team does not have the capacity to engage with all 55,000+ students in Portland's 100+ schools across five districts. This is why we designed our program in a creative way to be more sustainable. Through a train-the-trainer teaching model, we help educators become transportation safety experts for their school community. This helps expand our reach beyond what we would be able to do through direct education with students alone.
We provide initial training to teachers, then offer in-class support as teachers begin instructing students. Safe Routes to School staff are available to observe teachers in class, offer feedback, and help respond to questions.
Learn more about pedestrian safety education
Bike safety education
Bring bike safety education to your students through a health or PE setting! Safe Routes to School staff will provide free train-the-trainer education to get you started and feeling confident with skills and information.
What is bike safety education?
Through the bike safety education curriculum, students learn bike handling skills and road safety awareness in both classroom and outdoor settings. We provide everything you need, including a fleet of bikes and helmets. Availability may vary as the fleet rotates between schools across Portland.
Who is it designed for?
The bike safety education curriculum is designed for middle school classes but many educators have reported finding success bringing the unit to their elementary school classes. Lessons are paired with Oregon Department of Education's PE Standards.
How does it work?
The Safe Routes to School team does not have the capacity to engage with all 55,000+ students in Portland's 100+ schools across five districts. This is why we designed our program in a creative way to be more sustainable. Through a train-the-trainer teaching model, we help educators become transportation safety experts for their school community. This helps expand our reach beyond what we would be able to do through direct education with students alone.
We provide initial training to teachers, then offer in-class support as teachers begin instructing students. Safe Routes to School staff are available to observe teachers in class, offer feedback, and help respond to questions.
Learn more about bike safety education
Transportation safety education
Bring transportation safety education to your students through a health or PE setting! Safe Routes to School staff will provide free train-the-trainer education to get you started and feeling confident with skills and information.
What is transportation safety education?
The transportation safety education curriculum provides educators with two interactive multi-day units covering:
- Health benefits of walking, biking, and rolling — as well as how these travel choices benefit the community
- Oregon traffic safety laws
- How to ride transit
- Road etiquette
- Traffic crash prevention
- Assertive communication in public spaces
Who is it designed for?
The transportation safety education curriculum is designed for middle school classes. Lessons are paired with Oregon Department of Education's PE Standards.
How does it work?
The Safe Routes to School team does not have the capacity to engage with all 55,000+ students in Portland's 100+ schools across five districts. This is why we designed our program in a creative way to be more sustainable. Through a train-the-trainer teaching model, we help educators become transportation safety experts for their school community. This helps expand our reach beyond what we would be able to do through direct education with students alone.
We provide initial training to teachers, then offer in-class support as teachers begin instructing students. Safe Routes to School staff are available to observe teachers in class, offer feedback, and help respond to questions.
Learn more about transportation safety education
Transportation Academy
Safe Routes to School has expanded into high schools — join us! Thanks to grants from Oregon Department of Transportation and Metro, we're able to offer our Transportation Academy to high school students in Portland.
What is the Transportation Academy?
The Transportation Academy is a multidisciplinary unit that helps students build skills for navigating neighborhoods safely — whether walking, biking, rolling, or driving — while helping students understand of Portland's transportation system in ways that reflect their needs and values. It promotes traffic safety with the goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries on our streets. The learning extend beyond the classroom, encouraging students to apply these skills in their day-to-day lives.
Student cover a variety of topics in the Transportation Academy unit, including:
- Multimodal literacy: Navigating Portland safely — whether walking, biking, rolling, taking transit, using shared bikes and scooters, or driving a motor vehicle
- Climate connections: Understanding the effects of transportation on the climate
- Transportation equity: Exploring Portland's transportation history and equity impacts
- Civic engagement: Working with city government to influence transportation decisions
- Safe System approach: Identifying and mitigate risks in the transportation system
Who is it designed for?
The Transportation Academy unit is designed for high school students. We partnered with 140+ local youth, Metro, Oregon Department of Transportation, and Dr. Autumn Shafer to inform the Transportation Academy.
How does it work?
The Safe Routes to School team does not have the capacity to engage with all 55,000+ students in Portland's 100+ schools across five districts. This is why we designed our program in a creative way to be more sustainable. Through a train-the-trainer teaching model, we help educators become transportation safety experts for their school community. This helps expand our reach beyond what we would be able to do through direct education with students alone.
We provide initial training to teachers, then offer in-class support as teachers begin instructing students. Safe Routes to School staff are available to observe teachers in class, offer feedback, and help respond to questions.