Thanks to the generosity of East School parents, kindergarteners and first-graders on Little Brook Road as soon as April will enjoy new playground equipment that’s designed both to provide fun and stimulate the senses.
A rendering of the new playground equipment planned for kindergartners and first-graders at East School. Credit: Peter Wallace of M.E. O’Brien & Sons Inc.
The Board of Education at its regular meeting Monday night voted 8-0 to accept a $35,000 gift from the East School PTC that will go toward a rollerslide, grab bar, hand hold/leg lift and other equipment from Delano, Minn.-based playground design firm Landscape Structures.
The figure includes the relocation in the playground of a popular “fire truck” and introduction of new woodchips that will be needed for the site, according to PTC Co-President Patty Zoccolillo and East School Principal Kris Woleck.
Weather-permitting, the new gear will go in over April Break, Zoccolillo said.
East School playground on Feb. 23, 2015. Credit: Andrea Dinan (this it turns out is not the playground getting new equipment but I want to thank my sister-in-law for getting there before sundown to snap this photo for me)
“I just wanted to mention once again the incredible generosity of our parent body,” she told the school board at the meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School.
Woleck also thanked the East School parents, not only for their generosity but also “their commitment to growing the whole child.”
“As we know, playgrounds not only foster physical development, but they also grow creativity, imagination, perseverance and risk-taking, and also social skills as students are interacting with their peers on the structures,” Woleck said.
“I also did want to take a moment to give the board some context of this gift. As you may recall and as Patty mentioned, the East PTC made a significant donation last spring that allowed us to purchase [Landscape Structures equipment] for our school playground, and our children have been thoroughly enjoying that structure throughout the fall. They are very eager to get back on it this spring once the snow has melted. But with some of money that remained from that gift we began turning our attention to our smaller kindergarten and first grade playground that is on the opposite side of the building, and what we realized is that with some redesigning and some updating, we could accommodate some more students on that playground and provide them with some additional opportunities for play in that area. And with the growing population, it became evident that it was important to use every bit of space we have to its fullest potential.”
Led by a committee that included East PTC Treasurer Jennifer Murphy as well as East School Assistant Principal Maura Fruin, teachers and both occupational and physical therapists, the school pursued playground pieces that would not only be fun to play on but also “might support the sensory development of students,” Woleck said.
“That’s important for all children, but in partcular we have students who will benefit tremendously because they have needs in that area, so this is expanding for all of our students the environments that are available in the school for them to grow in this way,” Woleck said, noting that district Facilities Operations Manager Bob Willoughby had been particularly a helpful and supportive resource for the committee.
Board of Ed Chair Hazel Hobbs praised the committee for “the thoroughness with which you addressed the project” and called the parents who generously funded it “just spectacular and impressive.”
Board member Sangeeta Appel said she has a child at East and confirmed that kids have enjoyed the Landscape Structures equipment installed on the larger playground at the school last year.
Board member Alison Bedula said it was important to “recognize and acknowledge the incredible generosity of parents in town.”
“This is just another example of things that are donated to the school system that make the school system what it is,” she said.
In a lighter moment, board member Penny Rashin praised the introduction of new equipment at East as an opportunity to stimulate the perhaps otherwise-focused kids, recalling that her own son had had altercations there. Hobbs suggested it was “important to say that this was not recent, the altercation,” drawing laughter from the room.
Board of Ed Vice Chair Scott Gress was absent. The playground consultants hired for the project are Medfield, Mass.-based Obrien & Sons Inc. The exact amount of the PTC’s gift—the cost estimate for the project—is $34,928.