The journey to and from school will change in the upcoming months for Maplewood students needing a safe route. The City of Kansas City has appointed 250,000 dollars in grant money to go towards creating sidewalks around the school. 

Parents of students attending the North Kansas City school have been encouraged by school staff to walk with their student as the path was deemed "unsafe" as it forces students to walk on the road. Free school buses are provided to transport students from the hilly school located on 52nd Street and Freemont Ave. 

"I was really excited of the possibility of students walking to the beautiful park that was created across the street but it's so dangerous crossing 52nd St. that no one could really go there."

Berry is the LINC Site Coordinator at Maplewood Elementary and works with the school community to create a safe and enriching environment for students. 

Berry believes that the installation of sidewalks will benefit the school community as a whole.

"We have Girls on the Run but we don't have any sidewalks for the girls to run on, we just use space on the blacktop. We are also working on a school yard garden for the community which hopefully people can come to with the new sidewalks.

Participation in the school will hopefully increase once the new sidewalks are created." 

The Safe Route to School Committee, created by Maplewood Site Council member Jason Ithington, is working to help create a safer walkway for students along 52nd street. 

"It would be a whole procedure of keeping the walkway safe," said Berry. "Creating curbs, drainage, and sidewalks along 52nd Street. It's a beginning, it's the start of a great beginning."

View the Fox 4 News interview below: