Over the past month, a group of our fourth grade students have been working with students from CWS and P94 to design our new school yard with the Trust for Public Land! Their planning has taken into consideration not only what would be fun for our students but also what would create the most positive environmental impact as well. Our students collected survey data from the nearly 1,000 students and teachers in our building to think about what all students wanted to see – keeping in mind the different age groups as well as interests. They had to keep in mind the soccer players, the make-believe players, the jump-ropers, the book-readers – and everyone in between! They also studied the yard for sun/shade, drainage and water, and the slope of the ground, creating detailed maps to use in their work. They also looked at other playgrounds to gather ideas. Using all of this data, they created two plans that we as a community can vote on.

All students will vote in their classrooms on Thursday and Friday of this week, but parents are also invited to vote! Please use THIS FORM to look at the two proposed plans and cast your vote online by Friday at 3:00pm. Both designs will also be posted in the school yard this Friday from 8am-8:30am with a paper ballot box available for in-person voting.

This school yard will be a great place for our students to enjoy for years to come – and will also become public space on afternoons and weekends for our whole community. We hope you will be part of this democratic participatory process on Friday morning!

Form link: https://goo.gl/forms/7GuhVMgnwBWmyzlB3