Playground Redevelopment Project

The Cause

The playground at St. Vladimir School is at least 20 years old and outdated. Several of the pieces need to be replaced as they are unsafe for use by children of our school and community. Our playground area also has drainage issues making it inaccessible for children who want to play there. Standing water draws mosquitoes and muddy areas are unsightly and unsafe. This has led to minimal physical activity for our children and youth. The health restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in community members being hesitant to use this playground. These factors caused our children to be less active and engage in more recreational screen-based activities. Research shows that physical activity leads to more positive moods, longer attention spans and fewer behavior issues in children. We know how important physical activity is for the social and cognitive development of our children and youth.

Our committee is aware of the deteriorating condition of our school’s playground and the negative effects the pandemic left on the active lifestyle of our community. We are working to remedy this by redeveloping our playground space. Besides replacing the equipment, we have three additional agendas: 1) to have increased capacity in the playground 2) to install play equipment that is accessible and 3) to give a multisensory play experience to our children. The redevelopment project will include site preparation and rehabilitation, and our design will include a range of multifunctional features that prioritize all-ages, accessible play and a huge variety of play experiences to promote physical development and help in the areas of cognitive, adaptive, social and emotional development. Our design will incorporate some or all of the seven elements of play: swinging, sliding, climbing, spinning, sensory system, balancing, and arms swinging.

By designing, fundraising and installing this new playground, we expect to increase its capacity, appeal and functional range. This will allow more children to use the space while allowing more differently abled children to access the play opportunities alongside their peers. Our design will include the latest in recreational education best practices, enhancing our playground’s abilities to give children critical social, physical and mental skills as they play. This project will ensure our community children and families have access to free, engaging and spacious recreational infrastructure to promote healthy living.

Who Will it Benefit?

Our school serves 179 pre-K to grade 6 elementary students - all these students will directly benefit from this urgently needed redevelopment of our school’s failing playground space. We anticipate that this project will dramatically increase the capacity and accessibility of our current playground and we expect that the current body of students and community children will readily incorporate the new features into their play routines.

The new playground will also be of immense benefit to all our Delwood neighborhood; our neighbors will find new opportunities for outdoor recreation right on their doorstep, and a space where families can gather to form lifelong social bonds.