The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently featured our Active School Neighborhood Checklist in their Physical Activity and Community Design Facilitated Peer Networking Call on December 15. The Arizona Nutrition Network’s SNAP-Ed program from the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, highlighted work done in Tucson using the checklist. The Active School Neighborhood Checklist is a tool we developed jointly with the Arizona Department of Transportation. It is an online tool used for assessing the walkability, bikeability, and safety of school sites.
In Phase I of the project, 10 Title I elementary schools in the Sunnyside Unified School District of Tucson were assessed using the Active School Neighborhood Checklist. In Phase II, in partnership with a local non-profit, the Living Streets Alliance, two of Sunnyside Unified School District schools will be chosen to receive walking and biking maps to use with their school community. Schools will be selected by their Active School Neighborhood Checklist score as well as other factors such as planned infrastructure improvements, strength of parent involvement in the school/school health advisory council, distance from bicycle boulevards, and future Cyclovia Tucson route locations.
Throughout the state, we will continue to support Arizona communities as they collaborate with others in community planning and promoting healthy lifestyles for their citizens. Thank you to our staff and community partners for working to making our communities healthier, safer, and more family friendly.
