Crossing Guard Appreciation Week November 9-15, 2025

Support Your Crossing Guard

Contact us about our Crossing Guard Pocket Guide, “Georgia’s Best Crossing Guard” story, and other materials that support and celebrate crossing guards!

Make sure your guard has the safety equipment they need to be safe. Crossing guards require (at a minimum) a high-visibility vest or outer wear and a 18″ or larger stop paddle. Guards also benefit from having high visibility gloves, a whistle and other equipment.

Crossing Guard Pocket Guide. Your safety is important. Be Safe. If a care does not appear to be stopping, keep yourself and the crossing students safely on the curb. Follow traffic signals when present. Be Seen. Wear a high visibility retro-reflective safety vest. Be clear and direct when communicating: raise your stop paddle high, make eye contact, and make your instructions/signals clear. You are the first person into the crosswalk and the last person to leave the crosswalk. Be A Role Model. You are providing and important service to your community. Set a good example as a driver and pedestrian. GA Law. O.C.G.A. 20-2-1131 (2010) 20-2-1131. Direction of traffic by school-crossing guards "Any person who is a school-crossing guard designated by a local law enforcement agency shall be authorized to direct and regulate the flow of traffic at school crossings or within a reduced speed school zone during the time when such school-crossing guard is on duty.
Basic Student Crossing. 1 - Have children wait three feet from the curb. Look left, right, left for traffic. 2 - Wait for a gap in traffic or for traffic signals to indicate crossing. 3 - Make eye contact with stopped drivers to ensure they see you. 4 - While continuously scanning for traffic, hold your stop paddle high, enter the crosswalk, and stand in the center of the roadway facing the crosswalk. 5 - Continue to make eye contact with drivers. Use your free hand and whistle to signal cars to stop. 6 - Verbally instruct the students to enter the crosswalk. 7 - Maintain your position, scanning for traffic. 8 - Return to your original position once all students have crossed safely.