County Supports All Kids Bike Program Expansion at Local Elementary Schools

A young family with little children preapring for bike ride, standing with bicycles in nature and high fiving.

​Learning how to ride a bike can be an important life skill for children and Mecklenburg County Public Health is helping in that development at several elementary schools. As part of Public Health’s All Kids Bike program, children attending kindergarten and first grade at some elementary schools received a fleet of new bikes. Each school in the program receives a bike education curriculum, training for their Physical Education teacher and 24 Strider bikes and helmets. The bikes come with pedal conversion kits, so that students can learn how to balance and pedal their bike, allowing them to work on their fine and gross motor skills, hand eye coordination, balance, judging distance and speed, and of course, have fun. 

“Mecklenburg County Public Health is proud to support the All Kids Bike program. Evidence shows that physically active youth experience countless benefits from improved physical and mental health to stronger academic outcomes",said Dr. Kimberly Scott, assistant Health director of Population Health. 

MCPH team members as well as key partners help to build the bikes. The program is currently at 35 elementary schools with the following schools being the newest members: 

  • Hidden Valley Elementary School 

  • Merry Oaks Elementary School 

  • Oaklawn Language Academy 

  • Charles H. Parker Academic Center 

  • Dorothy J. Vaughan Academy of Technology 

The National All Kids Bike Kindergarten PE Program is taught in all 50 states and serves more than 100,000 students each year. Locally, the All Kids Bike program is a part of the Safe Routes to School initiative at Mecklenburg County Public Health, and is part of a collaborative effort between Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, and Trips for Kids Charlotte. Charlotte Department of Transportation has also provided funding support in prior years. This program is just one of many that Mecklenburg County Public Health is working on to decrease the risk of chronic disease through increased opportunities for physical activity through active transportation and built environment interventions. For more information please visit our website: Built Environment and Active Living.