Learn Hardcore Korean: hakgyo geuncheo-eneun hoengdanbodoga eobseoyo.

학교 means “school,” 근처 means “vicinity” or “nearby.” The particle 에 marks the location (“at/near the school”), and 는 is the topic marker. Combined as 근처에는, it emphasizes “as for the area near the school…” and sets that location up as the topic of the sentence.

What exactly is 횡단보도?

횡단보도 means “crosswalk” or “zebra crossing.” It’s a Sino-Korean compound: 횡단 (横斷) means “crossing,” and 보도 (步道) means “pedestrian way.”

Why is 없어요 used here instead of 안 있어요?

Both mean “does not exist” or “there isn’t,” but 없다/없어요 is the standard verb for “not having” or “non-existence.” 안 있어요 is a negation of 있다 (“to exist”) and sounds more like “isn’t there,” but Koreans usually prefer 없어요 when stating absence in a neutral statement.

Who or what is the subject of this sentence?

There is no explicit subject in Korean when it’s obvious or general. Here it’s a general statement (“There is no crosswalk…”). In English we add “there,” but in Korean the existence verb stance (있다/없다) carries the meaning without naming a subject.

How would you turn this into a question asking if there is a crosswalk near the school?

You swap 없어요 for 있어요 and raise the intonation: 학교 근처에 횡단보도가 있어요?
Literally “Is there a crosswalk near the school?”

How could you make this sentence more formal or polite?

Use the formal ending -습니다 or the formal question -습니까: 학교 근처에는 횡단보도가 없습니다.
(more formal polite statement)
학교 근처에는 횡단보도가 없습니까?
(formal polite question)

If I want to emphasize that there are absolutely no crosswalks near the school, how would I say that?

You can add a quantifier like 하나도 (“not even one”): 학교 근처에는 횡단보도가 하나도 없어요.

Why use 근처에는 instead of just 근처에?

근처에 simply marks location (“at/near the school”), but 근처에는 makes it the topic and often implies a contrast or emphasis (e.g., “As for near the school, there’s none,” perhaps implying other areas do have crosswalks).