Charlie, a third grader at Boulder’s Eisenhower Elementary who uses a wheelchair, couldn’t really access the playground equipment last school year.
Even the adaptive swing wasn’t easily accessible because it first required negotiating a field of bumpy wood chips, while the play structures — again surrounded by wood chips — didn’t include ramps or many ground level options.
But this school year, a new solid, rubberized surface gives him a path to the swing and a new structure with wide ramps, a buddy “glider” and interactive play panels. The panels include drums, a “three-in-a-row” game and a maze game.
Along with the main structure, there’s a new, ground level merry-go-round with room for a wheelchair that he likes to ride while classmates make it spin.
“It has been a game changer,” Eisenhower Principal Brady Stroup said. “It’s so much better than it was. It’s awesome.”
Eisenhower is one of six schools that received playground accessibility upgrades this summer through a $350 million capital construction bond issue approved by voters in 2022. Altogether, the bond includes about $6.8 million for playground improvements at 16 elementary schools.
Boulder Valley prioritized schools, like Eisenhower, with multi-intensive learning centers for students with more complex special education needs. The other elementary schools starting the year with new playgrounds are Foothill, Kohl, Louisville and Nederland.
Boulder Valley spokeswoman Susan Cousins said the revamped playgrounds were designed not only to give students with mobility devices or sensory challenges more options, but allow them to play alongside their classmates.
That includes wider ramps on play structures so they’re easier for students to access, as well as “friendship” swings with two supportive bucket seats facing each other so students can swing together. Another option is a glider with bench seats and space for a wheelchair. A design team took into account playground space and school requests in determining what would be included at each site.
“They’re not limited to a single path or piece of equipment,” she said. “They could integrate and play side by side or together with their peers.”
Janice Moore, a Boulder Valley physical therapist on the design team, asked for feedback from the fifth-grade classes at Lafayette Elementary. She also wanted to include better options for swings, noting “there are very few kids who don’t like to swing.”
“The playgrounds needed work, especially the surfaces, so they could access the same equipment,” she said. “We can do so much better. We want to help them be the explorers all children want to be.”
Along with better designed playgrounds, the district is using a state bullying prevention and education grant to help elementary schools make the play during recess more inclusive. Elementary school leaders and teacher aides were invited to attend a summer training with Playworks, a non profit based in California. Sixteen schools are participating this school year.
Tracy Altomare, a Boulder Valley bullying prevention specialist, said school principals asked the district for help addressing bullying and reducing conflicts on the playground. The Playworks training, she said, “really helped them think about their recess structures.”
Along with the summer training, schools receive two visits during the school year from a Playworks consultant, as well as a recess game equipment kit.
She said the goal is to provide ways to play that include all students. Student-created games, she said, are sometimes led by a few kids with a lot of social power who create rules that may allow them to win or discourage others from participating. Playworks trains the adults to teach conflict resolution and create common, fair rules for games.
“We want everybody to feel valued and included and feel safe,”she said. “It helps level that playing field.”
At Eisenhower, which is one of the schools working with Playworks, Stroup said he wanted to make recess more collaborative and creative.
So for morning recess, which doubles as snack time, students can play on the equipment, but aren’t allowed to play soccer and other competitive field games. Instead, field games are limited to afternoon recess.
“Sometimes, the organized games get in the way of kids playing together,” Stroup said. “The soccer kids only play soccer. They take it very seriously. It’s the World Cup championships every day. Morning recess gives them a break.”
He said the Playworks program gives more options for cooperative games that the teacher aides supervising recess can lead, but added participating will always be a choice for students. Free play is always encouraged, he said.
“We just want to create new ways to play together,” he said.
