BORDENTOWN: School playground to get makeover

By Amy Batista, Special Writer
BORDENTOWN — A group of parents are looking to provide their children with a new ecological schoolyard despite setbacks from the administration.
"My children were new to the Clara Barton School, one going into first and one entering kindergarten, and I was dismayed by the state of the playground," said Jackie McCabe, chairwoman of the Playground Committee, in an email Oct. 9.
The Playground Committee was formed five years ago, prior to her joining in the spring of 2013.
"The inspiration behind the idea of an ecological schoolyard came to me after I took over the position of chair," Ms. McCabe said. "I spent the first several months of my position doing a lot of research and figuring out how to move forward with such an immense project."
She said the committee really hadn’t "done much as far as create a vision or make a design plan."
"They had raised money, approximately $25,000, through PTO events, but they didn’t have an end goal," she said. "The former leadership said they had felt opposition from administration in the past, and they were ready to hand over the reins to someone new."
Ms. McCabe said it was "difficult to sell the project idea to most people at first since not many people understood what an eco-schoolyard was."
"It took several months to assemble my current committee of 10 people," she said, adding she could not have done anything without the "incredible support and dedication of my team."
Her team consists of Pat Skelly, Caroline Conroy, Micki Quinn, Stephanie Neuhaus, Roya Alaie, Lisa Cohen, Karen Hofrichter and Deirdre Ryan.
She said she was "disheartened by the short recess period the students got each day."
"I felt this was horrible and did some research and found that there was a national movement towards eco-schoolyards, such as The Boston Schoolyard Initiative," she said. "The premise is to create an appealing, ecologically friendly space that kids can play in and learn at the same time."
She said if outdoor classroom areas are created that could be utilized by the teachers with a focus on subjects easily be incorporated into the curriculum, it would benefit everyone.
"The teachers would have an opportunity to create tangible, hands-on learning experiences for the children, and the children would engage with nature and the environment while learning about math, science and even language arts," she said, adding they would get more time outside to expend the energy that gets pent-up from sitting in the classroom all day.
As money was also an issue, it made sense to focus on creating natural play spaces where materials and labor could be donated, such as stepping logs and beanpole teepees, she added.
She said the current playground is made of old, cracked blacktop.
"There is a single jungle gym structure, which is situated on the kindergarten play area and can only be used by them during school hours," she said. "After hours, everyone has access to this play structure. The new schoolyard will be replacing everything that is currently existing except the two trees on the property and the jungle gym."
She said the kids are getting excited about the new schoolyard and want it to happen right away.
"Unfortunately, they’ll have to wait a bit longer," she said. "They’ve completed surveys, and, to date, the biggest request has been more recess time and more time outside."
The committee has been receiving positive feedback from the parents and community.
A Facebook page, "Friends of the Ecological Schoolyard at Clara Barton," has been established as well as a Twitter feed at Schoolyard@ecoschoolyard.
Things began turning around for the playground in February.
"The first thing we had to do was get the administration on board," she said, adding committee members had several meetings with Principal Louisa Kenny and got a private meeting with the Board of Education to explain the project.
The project is being broken into phases.
"We concentrated on explaining and laying out details of Phase 1," she said. "Phase 1 was going to entail the remodeling of four existing garden beds, which currently have some old games in them, with natural plants, wood stepping logs, a wooden balance beam and beanpole teepees."
The plan was created by Ms. Quinn.
"We also planned a mural to be painted on the school wall behind the area with the beds in it," she said. "The mural was drawn and will be installed primarily by Stephanie Neuhaus."
The schoolyard was "unanimously approved" by the Board of Education, and Phase 1 of the plan was completed during the summer.
"Unfortunately, we started to get administrative pushback from our principal, who cited safety concerns, cost and questioned the point of doing all of this work for something that would be temporary," she said.
The committee will be meeting with new Superintendent of Schools Edward Forsthoffer on Oct. 21 to discuss the project and address concerns.
She has recruited Lolly Tai, author of "Designing Outdoor Environments for Children: Landscaping, Schoolyards, Gardens and Playgrounds" and professor and chairwoman of the department of landscape architecture and horticulture at Temple University, to assist in the designing of the playground.
"Knowing the direction I wanted to go with the playground, he (her husband) introduced us as he felt she would be a valuable connection," she said, adding her husband is an acquisitions editor at McGraw-Hill, and he was trying to get Ms. Tai’s second book published.
"After much begging on my part, she chose our school as her landscape architecture senior design studio project this fall semester," she said. "They have been to Clara Barton, surveyed the students and have started design plans based on our feedback and wish list."
The committee expects to have the completed design plans in December when the semester ends.
"We are very excited to be involved with the Clara Barton Elementary School project and to assist in transforming it into an ecological schoolyard," Ms. Tai said in an email on Oct. 10. "Thirteen students in the landscape architecture senior design studio at Temple University under my direction are producing creative designs, which can potentially serve as a model for design solutions at other schools."
She said the students in her class are learning about Bordentown, criteria for designing spaces for children and concepts for sustainable design.
"Through this project, they are thoroughly enjoying the exposure to ‘real world’ experience," she said. "They feel proud to be to engage in a project that has potential to ‘green’ the community and impact positively on the health of the children and the community. It is our hope that the design solutions produced by Temple University’s landscape architecture students will serve as a guide for the school as they move ahead with their goals for building an ecological schoolyard."
She said there are "many benefits that can be achieved from enhancing the environment through alternative means."
"Greening schoolyards aligns with many sustainable initiatives in New Jersey as well as in the U.S.," she said. "School properties cover a vast area of impervious paving within the school and the schoolyard footprint, which typically includes asphalt and concrete. This condition is environmentally unfriendly. Impervious pavement is unsightly and deprives any greening in the environment. It deprives teachers and children from interacting within a healthy and enjoyable environment."
The Playground Committee is waiting to receive design plans from Temple University students to start fundraising for the project.
Ms. McCabe said members are in the process of applying for federal nonprofit status.
"That, coupled with the plans, will allow us to begin applying for grants so we can get money to really begin this project," she said.
The committee has a spring fundraiser planned at the school, "Get Out and Play," and has enlisted community participation in painting the mural, which has been put off until spring.
"I am enjoying every step of the way and also learning a lot along the way," she said. "I am focused on the completed goal and will love to see this implemented and utilized as an outdoor classroom. I also can’t wait for the kids to have a beautiful area to finally play in."