Every parent knows what next week brings as kids head back to school. It is a little bit of stress, thinking about schedules, supplies, music or sports practices, etc…

It is a little bit sadness, thinking about the fact that your child is one year older and a little more independent. And maybe thinking about the fact that you are getting a little older.

It is also part trepidation, as you’re not sure what to expect with a new teachers and classroom makeup.

It also might be a little bit of happiness and only fellow parents know what I am talking about.

But one of the things that parents should not have to worry about is their child getting to school.

Safe routes to school have become a big part of the city’s initiative to make Kirkland a walkable place to live. More sidewalks and even bike lanes, for the older kids, have popped up during the summer.

Not having to worry that your child has a safe place to walk to school is not too much to ask these days with so many other hazardous things out there.

The Kirkland Police Department does a good job of monitoring school zones and making sure that commuters do not get in too much of a hurry.

The school zones are there for a reason. More than one-fourth of child pedestrian fatalities occur between 3-7 p.m.

Those times are when schools are dismissing kids from the classroom or when they are headed home from school-related activities.

Now, more than ever, drivers need to be careful turning corners, backing out of driveways and driving through school zones.

Making things worse is that the days around here will get dark and rainy as fall and winter approach.

We expect that the police will be out in force next week, radar guns in hand, along streets that pass by schools. And we trust that they will hand out tickets even to those who say, “oops, sorry” when they’re pulled over.

So let’s all take a deep breath, take our foot off the gas pedal and put kids first. Slow down.

AAA has some good advice for motorists:

• Slow down and obey the 20 M.P.H. speed limit in school zones.

• Eliminate distractions. Sometimes kids dart into the road unexpectedly.

• Don’t roll through stop signs in school zones or neighborhoods.

Matt Phelps is the regional editor for the Kirkland and Bothell/Kenmore Reporter newspapers.