It's back to class Tuesday for students in the Foothills School Division while some Catholic students went back last week.

High River RCMP Cst. Jill Kingdon-Mills says motorists need to keep an eye out for the little ones, who may not be thinking about safety.

"We've got little ones who are just learning how to cross roads, we've got little ones that are excited to be back to school, they're on their scooters, they're on their bikes, they're walking, every different way of getting to school and sometimes they're not paying a whole lot of attention," she says. "If a kid happens to run out in front of you, you have a much much better chance of being able to stop and preventing a collision if you're doing 30 kilometres per hour."

School and playground zones in High River are harmonized and are in effect 24/7 while Okotoks school zones run from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

While some drivers may have questions about passing a school bus, Cst. Kingdon-Mills says the rules are clear when the driver flips out that stop sign on the side of the bus.

"The stop sign means stop, it means stop until the school bus driver has pulled that stop sign back in, you stay stopped. It does not mean stop and check to make sure it's clear and proceed."