NAHANT — Nahant’s Johnson Elementary School has been awarded a $6,000 grant by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) to support safe walking routes to school.
Called the Signs and Lines program, the grant is meant to provide funding for minor infrastructure work that can be completed in a short amount of time during the school year.
“The idea is to … actually see the results right away while making it safer for students and staff to get to school,” said Johnson School Principal Kevin Andrews.
The grant was written last year by PTO president Dr. Sherry Soleymani, and Andrews said the effort to implement it has been largely headed by Johnson School teachers and staff who want to see their students involved in the process.
According to Andrews, up to 90 percent of Johnson School students walk to school on any given day — a number that has landed the school a gold-level achievement designation from the state.
“It’s nice to pair a grant with a community effort and implement it all together and see a result. It’s instant gratification in terms of municipal improvements,” Andrews said. “It was short money for the state, I think, but with a relatively big impact on the town.”
Included on the list of planned infrastructure updates, which will be implemented in high-traffic areas around the school this spring, are brighter street signs and additional safety symbols on surrounding roads.
Andrews added that news of the grant has been especially welcome as the school prepares to hold its Winter Walk to School on Feb. 3.
It will be the district’s first school event since 80 percent of the student population returned to in-person learning amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in September.
“It’s exciting,” Andrews said. “It’s nice to have an event that you can do during this time. With everything else not being able to happen, having a community event that isn’t so virtual is something to celebrate.”
