The Burr Safe Routes Committee is part of the Burr School PTO.  All 15 elementary schools in Newton are members of the Massachusetts Safe Routes to School Program (SRTS), a WalkBoston initiative jointly funded by the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.  The program encourages safe, healthy options for travel to and from school, and aims to reduce congestion, air pollution, and traffic conflicts near schools while improving the health of school-age children.  Successful SRTS initiatives include the five E’s: education, encouragement, enforcement, engineering, and evaluation.

We encourage families to walk to school by promoting "Walk to School" days and by encouraging parents to organize “Walking School Buses” so groups of children can walk together.  We also work to ensure the safety of all of our students as they enter and leave school by providing education and information about the Blue Zone and traffic safety.

Safe Routes programs:

*    Encourage healthy lifetime habits for students.

*    Increase children’s independence.

*    Help them arrive at school ready to learn.

*    Teach safe pedestrian, bicyclist, and driver skills.

*    Reduce traffic conflicts and improve traffic safety around our schools.