As we begin to look ahead to the next school year, we wanted to share some exciting updates being planned for school recreational spaces. We have been working with a landscape architect and playground designer to plan for the updates, expected to roll out over the next three years. We hope the first round of changes will be completed by the start of the 2015-2016 school year.
The designs are still a work in progress, and we cannot share many specific design elements at this point, but wanted to keep you updated regarding the plans for our play spaces.
Over the next three years, we plan to develop four specific play spaces on campus: the Toddler play area, the Early Years and Years 1-2 play area, the Lower School play area and field and the courtyard next to the Middle and High School wing.
We hope that the updated play spaces will not only offer children a better place to play and relax with their classmates during break times, but will also serve as an extension of our classrooms. Play is a vitally important part of a child’s life, supporting physical, social and emotional development. This is especially true when children have play areas that offer space for sport, creativity and learning activities.
Providing this kind of learning space is our focus as we work on the playground designs. Amongst the ideas for the updated play spaces include utilizing the fences and walls surrounding the areas to provide learning activities and art spaces, creating outdoor seating and classroom areas, adding additional shaded seated areas for our older students, and using the natural landscape to offer climbing structures, slides and swings.
We have received a lot of valuable parent feedback about our playground areas, including at a Parent-Teacher Group forum this fall, and have also been speaking with students and teachers about what they would like to see in an updated outdoor recreational space. This feedback has been incredibly important as we look toward updating these spaces.
On Thursday, May 21, a group of Class Communication Representatives, staff members and a student representative met with the landscape architect working on our playground designs, sharing their ideas for the designs.
We look forward to sharing more detailed design plans with our families later this summer and over the next few years. We thank all of our parents for their help and support during this process.