Kat Barber ‘23 | Elizabeth Boruff ‘23
Plans for replacing the current Lower School playground with a new one are being finalized, and EA administration plans to begin construction soon. The development of the new playground’s design has been a collaborative effort, bringing together ideas from faculty, architects, parents, and even students.
Conversations about a new playground began a couple of years ago, primarily because the current playground has numerous safety concerns. Dr. Terrance Malone, Head of Lower School, describes the problem with the existing playground, explaining that while “the playground has a plexi-wood Trex layer that doesn’t really rot out, the wood underneath of it does. It’s at the point now where the structures have become a bit of a safety issue.”
Photo courtesy of the EA Communications Department
Malone explains that “the maintenance team and the safety committee, led by Joe Shanahan, have to inspect the playground, to make sure it’s safe for the kids. They do a lot of repairs to it, and it’s at the point where it’s time to get a new playground because it has been requiring too much maintenance.”
According to Malone, “There’s a committee, led by Mark Notaro [Chief Operating Officer]. He’s mainly the person who is leading this from behind the scenes. He works really closely with the architects, the township, and Dr. Locke [Head of School]. Jennifer Fifer is our Director of Institutional Advancement, so she is fundraising to be able to pay for this playground.” Discussions have also involved members of the Upper School Science Department, the Physical Education and Athletic Department, and the Arts Department.
Malone is also involved in increasing involvement with the playground design process. He states, “I’m engaging the faculty in conversations about what this playground is going to look like. We’re talking to the kids about it, so they’re getting really excited. They’re writing letters, they’re drawing pictures, and they’re constantly talking about it. It’s really cute. We’re also talking to their parents and the EAPA.”
Lower School students like Zoe Mathisen ‘30 and Maisy Bernstein ‘33 enjoyed contributing their ideas for the design. When asked about what she was looking for in the new playground, Mathisen said, “My group wanted a sports area where people could play all different sports at one time, so we don’t have to keep going to get the different balls for the different sports.”
Bernstein also mentions that she wants to see “new swings, more trees, and tube slides. I was actually planning on getting a ball pit too, like a tube slide that leads into a ball pit. And also a tower. I actually kind of changed my mind, and I want to make an elevator too.” She explains that she “had to write [her ideas] down on a sheet of paper, which was a letter to Dr. Malone.”
Research has also been a large aspect of the design process. Malone and other members of the faculty have been reading various books to understand the value of playing for kids. He says, “There’s a lot of conversation about what play does for children, and how important it is. We look at this as a learning center, not just as a playground.” Malone explains that Bev Bos and Jenny Chapman’s book Tumbling Over the Edge: A Rant for Children’s Play has been helpful in their construction, saying, “It tells you all about how play is really important for children.” Similarly, the faculty read Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods, which conveys the importance of nature for childhood development.
Members of the community are both excited about the construction of the new playground and reminiscent of memories created on the current playground. Mathisen says, “I’m really excited for the playground, but also a little sad because I liked the old playground. I’m going to miss the three slides in the front because those are really fun.” Ryan Harrar ‘27 also comments, “Some of my best memories from Lower School are outside playing on the playground. I am sure they are working on some great creative designs, and I can’t wait to see how it turns out.”