National School Bus Safety Week and Poster Contest

October 20 - 24, 2025

During the third full week of October each year, National School Bus Safety Week is a public education campaign designed to promote school bus safety. It is an excellent way for parents, students, teachers, motorists, school bus operators, school administrators, and other interested parties such as law enforcement agencies, to join forces and address the importance of school bus safety. School districts throughout the country observe National School Bus Safety Week.

National School Bus Safety Poster Contest

Every year, thousands of school districts in over 40 states participate in local and state-level competitions to select artwork that depicts school bus safety-related themes and encourages and promotes school bus safety. The winning posters are used to promote safer school transportation for everyone. 
 

The 2025-2026  National School Bus Safety Poster Contest aims to select a poster that best depicts the theme: 

"Safe Rides, Everyday Heroes"

Posters may be submitted anytime between November 2, 2025 - April 3, 2026.

 

• Key dates for the contest:​
  • November 2, 2025 - April 3, 2026: Poster creation period
  • April 17, 2026: Posters must be submitted to State Administrator.
  • May 15, 2026: Winning STATE contest posters must be received by NAPT from state administrators 
  • Summer 2026: National winners will be notified and promoted 
  • Fall 2026 (after the conclusion of the Annual Conference): Prizes will be sent

The National School Bus Safety Poster Contest is open to pupils in grades K-8 and entries are accepted in the following categories:

• Division #1 - Grades K-2;
• Division #2 - Grades 3-5;
• Division #3 - Grade 6-8;
• Division #4 - Special Education (Grades K- 12); 
• *Division #5 - CAD (Computer Aided Drawing);
• *Division #6 - International entries.

*Division #5 - CAD and Division # 6 - International entries are eligible for competition within those respective divisions but are not eligible to be the Overall Contest Winner.

Every poster and slogan must harmonize with the 2025-2026 poster contest theme: "Safe Rides, Everyday Heroes". Contestants must illustrate the theme only. The theme on the poster must be exactly as shown above, to include all punctuation.

QUESTIONS?  Please contact the contest coordinator at schoolbus@education.ohio.gov.
 

The National School Bus Safety Poster Contest is sponsored by the National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT), the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS), and the National School Transportation Association(NSTA).

Please Note: The NSBSW Poster Contest and National School Bus Safety Week are two different events. The poster theme becomes the theme for the following year's National School Bus Safety Week, which is an active and evolving public education program designed to promote school bus safety. This annual event is held during the third full week in October each year.

 

• Looking for school bus safety tips all year round? Click here for some great tips from NHSTA.
• Past and present poster contest winners, can be found here.

Last Modified: 8/20/2025 12:56:09 PM

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