Back to School

It's a good idea to plan and try out your route before the first day of school. Click the link below to find a map for your school in Cupertino. The maps highlight "suggested routes to school," crossing guard locations, estimated travel times, and more.

Cupertino Safe Routes to School developed these maps in collaboration with families who helped identify routes they take to school, school administrators, district partners, Cupertino's Traffic Engineers, and Alta Planning + Design.

Suggested Routes to School Maps

You can also view school boundaries and Suggested Routes to School maps on our Safe Routes to School GIS page. You'll find menu options at the top right. Click on the school icon, then to find your school, expand the Schools layer, expand the Elementary, Middle or High School layer.

The right gear makes all the difference

Walking and biking to school can be fun and comfortable with the right gear.

Backpacks

Make sure your child has a comfortable, correctly-sized backpack and practice having them wear it properly resting on both shoulders, with the straps tightened correctly. The right fit ensures the weight is balanced properly and doesn’t cause neck or back pain.

Put a card in the backpack with your child’s address, an emergency contact, their primary care doctor’s contact info, and any relevant medical information such as allergies or medical conditions.

Helmet

Wearing a helmet is required by law for anyone under age 18 riding a bike, scooter, or skateboard. Make sure the helmet fits and is properly adjusted by checking out the helmet flyer in the Rules of the Road section below.

Bikes

You want to make sure you or your child is riding a bike that fits. For newer riders, they will be most comfortable and confident if their feet can touch the ground when they stop. For experienced riders, when their foot is at the lowest point on the pedal, with the middle of their foot on the pedal, the knee should be straight. When stopped, they should be able to reach the ground with their toes. You can raise the seat post up if it is too low, but if you raise it to the maximum height and the rider's legs still can't go straight at any point in the pedal rotation, the bike is too small. Time to upgrade.

Bicycle Accessories

Consider the following for your bike:

• U lock to secure the bike to a bike rack when you arrive at school. Chain locks are easily cut and so not recommended unless they are used in addition to a U lock.
• Bike bell, to announce to others that you are passing.
• Bottle of water to stay hydrated. You can mount a water bottle cage to the frame or handlebars to make carrying the water bottle easy.
• Lights if there is a chance you will be riding at dusk or later or before dawn. You'll need a white light for the handlebars and a red light for the back of the bike.
• Portable pump in case of low tire pressure.
• Patch kit and tire irons in case of a flat tire.
• Rear rack with panniers (also called saddle bags) or a rear basket, for carrying backpack, small musical instrument, art project, jacket, or anything else.
• Front basket to carry smaller items.

Reflectivity

Apply highly reflective tape to your child’s backpack, jacket, shoes, hats, bicycle frame to make them more visible to cars and increase their safety. There is machine-washable sew-on or stick-on tape that can be applied to any surface as well as pre-cut shapes to add some whimsy.

Learning to bike safely

Teaching your kids to bike is a gift that will benefit them their entire lives. It’s a quick way for them to get to school, their friends' houses, the library, and beyond. It’s a fun way to explore the city, local parks and trails as a family, and it’s a great low-impact exercise.

Safe Routes to School offers multiple classes through the year for elementary and middle school kids to help them become more confident bicyclists. Classes include instruction on rules of the road, how to make sure a helmet fits correctly, biking skills drills, and a practice ride around the neighborhood. Silicon Valley Bike Coalition, a local non-profit, also offers classes for adults who want to learn to bike or become more confident bicyclists.

Remember that your child must wear a helmet at all times when biking. It’s the law and it will keep them safe. Any local bike shop will help you fit their bike helmet for free.

Make sure the bike is the right size. Riding a bike that fits helps kids maintain a good posture which doesn’t strain or injure their bodies and helps strengthen the right muscles. It also makes it easier for them to bike nimbly and effectively, so they enjoy it more and can bike more safely. For beginning riders, it’s important that both feet touch the ground easily when stopped, with the legs almost straight when seated. For experienced riders, test for bike height by placing the middle of one foot on a pedal. When the pedal is at its lowest point, the leg should be straight or almost straight.

Kids outgrow bikes quickly so buying used bikes or getting hand-me-downs is a good way to keep expenses down. Several local bike shops sell used bikes and will do an inexpensive tune-up on any bike you bring in. Get your child’s bike cleaned and tuned at least once a year to keep it running properly.

In Cupertino, children are allowed to bike on sidewalks through the age of 12. Practice biking to and from school with your child - how to get on and off the sidewalk, where it’s safe to bike on the street, the different types of bike lanes, how to ring the bell to ask pedestrians to move aside, where to bike on the street to be safe from car doors and moving cars, and how to signal turns.

Most importantly, walking or biking to school is fun! It’s a great activity to do together or with friends and get to know your neighborhood.

This a comprehensive guide to road safety for families, created by the Santa Clara County Health Department and Stanford's Injury Prevention Program:

• Santa Clara County Road Safety Guide

Here are safety tips sheets for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists, developed by the Cupertino Safe Routes to School program:

Pedestrian Safety Tips(PDF, 6MB)

Cyclist Safety Tips(PDF, 2MB)

Motorist Safety Tips(PDF, 2MB)

If you ride a bike, scooter, skateboard or skates and you're under 18 years old, you need to wear a helmet. View the below flyer to learn how to properly fit your helmet:

Helmet Tips(PDF, 3MB)

As long as there is a global pandemic, we need to remember to maintain social distance. These flyers give helpful tips for social distancing while walking and biking:

• Social Distancing While Walking and Biking Flyer(PDF, 3MB)
• Social Distancing While Walking and Biking Flyer(PDF, 904KB)

When is my child ready to walk or bike to school on their own?

Walking or biking to and from school is great for children’s mental and physical health. A growing body of research has shown that it can lead to benefits like improved thinking, better physical fitness, greater happiness, decreased anxiety and depression, and better academic performance. It also helps kids become more confident and social.

Letting your little one venture out on their own can be nerve-wracking. Luckily for us, Cupertino is a very safe city and hundreds of kids walk and bike safely to and from school every day. Still, there are basic precautions that can help calm our parental apprehensions.

In general, the consensus is that 6-7 year olds do best when walking with a friend and by the ages of 9-10, most kids are ready to walk or bike on their own. You still have to consider your individual circumstances, of course, such as your child’s cognitive and emotional readiness, the distance to school, and whether there is a busy street to cross.

Ten-Question Test to see if your child is ready to go to school by themselves. Does he/she...

1. Recognize traffic safety signals
2. Understand the signals of a crossing guard
3. Only cross the street at designated pedestrian crosswalks
4. Pause until all vehicles stop and they have made eye contact with the drivers
5. Proceed to cross while looking both ways
6. Always walk, don’t run, when crossing a street
7. Stay on the sidewalk away from cars
8. Never play on the street or around or between parked cars
9. Not get distracted by talking or playing with friends while crossing a street
10. Know how to ask for help

It’s a good idea to practice walking or biking with your child until you feel confident that they can do it on their own. A good transition step is to find them a walking or biking buddy or group and make sure all kids in the group can pass the Ten-Question Test comfortably.

The first few times that kids walk or bike on their own, some parents may shadow them from a distance. We just want to say “good job” on giving your kids their independence!

Remember that kids are often ready to do this on their own long before parents think they are ready. Give them the chance to prove themselves. They will thank you for it.

Did you know walking or biking to school can improve academic performance?

• Walking and Biking Increases Academic Performance!

There are many health and other benefits to walking and biking to school:

• Safe Routes & Health: Understanding the Benefits of Walking and Bicycling to School
• CDC's Physical Activity Recommendations for Different Age Groups
• Active Transportation Resource Center
• Positive Impacts of Safe Routes to School Programs

Health benefits of cycling(PDF, 3MB)

Cupertino is making road safety improvements around every public school in Cupertino. This city-wide project is called the School Walk Audit Project. The Safe Routes to School team coordinated with each of the schools to come up with a list of recommended improvements that would make it safer to walk and bike to school. In 2019, Apple, Inc. provided the City a gift that is funding the construction of all the recommendations. Many of the improvements have already been made, and more are to come. All improvements are scheduled to be complete by the end of 2023.

Learn about the improvements around your school at the project website here:

School Walk Audit Project

Cupertino Safe Routes to School (SR2S) is a partnership program between City staff and community partners, who collaborate to advance the program's mission: to create a safer environment for students and families in Cupertino to travel to and from school actively.

The City of Cupertino is committed to safeguarding community members of all ages as they navigate our diverse network of bikeways, roadways, and walkways. To ensure that we achieve this goal, we are actively working on expanding beyond the traditional infrastructure and enforcement approach to traffic safety.

This unique approach has led to the creation of Cupertino Safe Routes to School, a program that brings together various stakeholders to address student safety throughout the City.

Learn more about the history and framework of Cupertino Safe Routes to School.