Community Build Playground A Huge Success!

DeRuyter officially opened our new playground on August 21st.  This new playground is the result of two years of dreaming and planning.  A committee of parents and staff began working with a playground company, Parkitects, during the 2021-2022 school year.  The committee members shared ideas based on their experiences and observations of how children have been using their outdoor time.   Mrs. Valente sought feedback and ideas from the Elementary Student Council throughout the planning process and elementary students were asked to complete a brief survey giving their input on what they hoped to see in a new playground.  Parkitects showed the committee several other completed playground projects in the area as well as catalogs of products and helped us design the playground that best met the needs wants of students.  

The new playground is largely funded by ARP (American Rescue Plan Act) monies.  These were funds provided by the federal government for COVID-19 recovery and could be applied to any initiative or project designed to make schools more educationally and socially-emotionally safe and healthy.  Other uses for these funds in DeRuyter include the summer learning program, after school enrichment programming and the expansion of our student support team.  In 2021 many pieces of our playground were beginning to need repair or replacement and often had to be closed for student safety, so it was decided to budget some of our awarded ARP funds to a new playground.  Working with Parkitects the District chose a community build option for installation.  A community build offers the opportunity for members of the school and community to come together and be a part of putting together the new playground.  Volunteers worked on installing pieces of equipment, putting slides, swings and other equipment together, spreading mulch and much, much more!  The community build was overseen by expert playground installers and underwent a safety audit before being opened to the public.  In choosing a community build rather than having the entirety of the project done by Parkitects, we were able to purchase more new equipment for our students to enjoy.  

It was amazing to see students enjoying the new playground for the first time on August 21st and we look forward to students enjoying it for years to come!  Thank you to all of our build volunteers for their generosity with both time and talent, and thank you to community members who supported the build by donating bags of concrete and water for our volunteers.  DCS is appreciative of the support from our community!