WINDSOR—A meeting to gather information about how Isle of Wight County students through eight grade get to schools will be held at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, at Windsor Middle School.

IOW school district recently received federal stimulus money to develop the Safe Routes To School program, which helps communities implement safe ways for children to walk to school.

The county awarded a contract to Land Studio, a Norfolk-based planning and landscape architecture firm, to identify the best routes for walking paths within a mile of Windsor Middle School and Westside Elementary School in Smithfield. The schools were selected because of their proximity to more populated neighborhoods and sidewalks.

The firm also will provide the analysis and documentation for implementation and construction.

Land Studio will work with parents, teachers, school administrators and residents to determine the safest and most feasible routes to connect neighborhoods to Windsor Middle and Westside Elementary schools and to tie the new paths into sidewalks.

The goal is to create an opportunity for students to walk to school and improve pedestrian access to schools for all residents.

Land Studio also will prepare the preliminary construction design for the routes.

Construction funding may be available through the National Center for Safe Routes to School. In Virginia, schools from Alexandria to Waynesboro have received grants from SRTS to pay for crosswalks and sidewalks, bike racks and safety education programs.

The initiative to encourage walking among school children has gained momentum in recent years, in part, because walk-to-school programs across the country have demonstrated a reduction in traffic congestion, improved children’s health, enhanced academic performance and a cleaner environment.

For information, contact County Senior Long-Range Planner Jamie Oliver at 365-6336.