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South Jordan Journal

Daybreak Elementary Students Recognized

Sep 14, 2015 02:59PM ● By Bryan Scott

Callender Square, adjacent to Daybreak Elementary School and Community Center, features gravel paths that are ideal for students who are walking to school.

By James Luke

As part of a community that was designed and built with active transportation in mind, Daybreak Elementary has always encouraged students to walk or ride a bike to school. In 2015, the Utah Department of Transportation recognized the success that the school, and Jordan School District, have had in their efforts to get kids safely to and from school on their own power.  

Daybreak Elementary and the Jordan School District received the SNAP Award from UDOT for their outstanding Student Neighborhood Access Program. Selected from a pool of 700 schools for the honor, UDOT recognized Daybreak for teaching students what they need to know about safely, and enjoyably, getting through their neighborhood to school.

State officials encourage more students statewide to join the fun of walking and biking to school. Gov. Gary Herbert recently joined with a group of Salt Lake area students who were walking to school, and along the way he helped UDOT promote its smart phone app called Walking School Bus.

The Walking School Bus, which UDOT compares to “a carpool without the cars,” gives parents and kids information about the best routes to ride or walk, existing walking groups going the same way, the number of calories burned in transit, the amount of vehicle emissions avoided and much more. Parents get a notification when the child arrives at school, adding an element of security and peace of mind for families who use the app.

“It just makes it easier for parents to organize these walking groups within their neighborhood,” notes UDOT’s manager of School and Safety Programs of the Walking School Bus app.

The Daybreak area continues to grow rapidly, and its school needs are expanding. Jordan Board of Education President Susan Pulsipher commented at the South Jordan City Council meeting in June that plans are moving forward for construction of a new elementary school in the Daybreak community. The school district has purchased a 10-acre property in the Creekside area of Daybreak, and the project is in the construction bidding process. Anticipated completion in about two years intends to see the school ready to welcome its inaugural class in the fall of 2017.