Table of Contents
Rachel Millstein is going for the gold. No, she’s not training for the 2028 summer Olympics — unless you count raising awareness of walking to school as a sport?
Millstein is the parent in charge of the committee that oversees the Muraco Elementary School’s Walk to School program. In fact, she is the entire committee.
She took over the PTO’s health and safety committee last year after the former chairs moved on and has been helming the program ever since. And she does it all with the help of parent volunteers.
In fact, Millstein and the Muraco school community have been so successful, they were honored at the State House earlier this year by the Safe Routes to School program with a silver level award for all the school does to not only raise awareness of walking, but providing programs to help students do so.
“I had no idea this even existed,” Millstein said, of the award. “At the end of the year, Safe Routes to School contacted me and asked the number of events we had hosted and some of the extra things we’d done.”
That earned the district its silver level award.
“I was thrilled!” Millstein said. “I’m a public health official so to see this come to life is more meaningful than all the papers I could ever write!”
A clinical health psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, Millstein said there’s a lot that goes into the Muraco’s Walk to School program, but it’s so worth it to see the success of getting families biking and walking.
What’s Safe Routes to School?
In 2005, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation founded Safe Routes to School, partnering with more than 1,300 publicly-funded schools statewide. That’s about 73% of the state’s Kindergarten to 12th grade schools, including public and charter schools.
Safe Routes to School Program Director Rachel O’Donnell said participating schools range from Cape Cod to the New York border so it’s not just those located around Greater Boston.
She said all schools in Winchester are registered for the program.
Metro North Outreach Coordinator Deborah Kreithen said it’s a one-time sign up and schools receive all sorts of support for programming, including safety lessons, evaluations about safety and how to start their own events.
For example, Winchester held its first Bike Rodeo with the help of the Safe Routes program during Town Day.
“We have a wide array in our toolbox to fit the needs of the individual community,” O’Donnell said. “There are a lot of aspects to our program.”
Vinson-Owen, for example, received an infrastructure grant through the program in 2024. During the ribbon cutting for the grant, O’Donnell said crossing guard Sue Minnehan was informed she was named a Crossing Guard Champion.
Kreithen added Winchester is a very involved community, but some schools are more involved than others.
“Winchester is a great community,” Kreithen said. “They are very involved. The high school participates in our program, the police work with us when it comes to safety. In fact, we just did a safety program at the Lincoln this year.”
How does it work in Winchester?
While all the town’s schools take part in different programming via the Safe Routes to School, Muraco is one of the few doing Walk to School days.
So, how does it work there?
The Walk to School program takes place the second Friday of each month. The goal is to get families active in coming to school, whether they walk, bike, roller skate…whatever they pick.
Rachel Millstein was shocked to learn the Muraco Elementary School had won a silver level award from the Safe Routes to School Program. She attended an awards ceremony at the State House in June. COURTESY PHOTOS/RACHEL MILLSTEIN
A dedicated group of volunteers greet students as they arrive at different spots throughout the Muraco community and hand out stickers.
Millstein said the event is well publicized at the school and on Facebook so families are aware it’s a Walk to School Friday. The town’s crossing guards are also made aware of the extra volunteers on the streets surrounding the 33 Bates Road building.
When kids arrive in their classrooms, teachers count the number of students who have stickers and let the administration know.
Those numbers are all tallied and given to Millstein. There are usually awards given to the classes with the highest percentage of walkers in the Kindergarten to second grade and third to fifth-grade categories.
Millstein said October 2025 turned out to be the highest month for Muraco walkers, with 70% of the school joining in. That’s 209 of the 299 students.
She said April 2026 was the lowest month, with only 65% of the school joining in, or 195 of the 299 students.
She said the weather has plenty to do with how many families walk to school. February and March’s events were canceled due to the snow and ice.
“The sidewalks were just not walkable,” Millstein said.
Overall, however, Millstein said the PTO went through at least 1,000 stickers.
State House award
On June 12, Millstein found herself among a number of other schools across the state that participate in the Safe Routes to School program.
“They highlighted a number of other schools with all different types of programs,” Millstein said. “In Peabody, for instance, they had a number of kids that were hit by cars. So, they partnered with the State Police and their local police to do an audit of their downtown and walking routes.”
Projects like that have inspired Millstein, who said she is incredibly energized and excited to get into the 2026-27 school year.
“I have so many ideas!” she said. “I’m going for the gold next year, now that I know this exists.”
Nell Escobar Coakley has been a journalist for more than 30 years. She is co-founder and editor-in-chief of Gotta Know Medford and editor of Winchester News. She can be reached at editor@winchesternews.org.
