\u201cAre there a billion hundred skunks?\u201d wondered Izzy S., a kindergartner, when asked about the new early childhood playground. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
AJA\u2019s ECD playground has never suffered from a skunk infestation. It has, however, endured several structural issues and decay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year, the Early Childhood Department has been constructing an updated playground for the students\u2019 safety and enjoyment. The process is being overseen by Peachtree Landscape and Play & Parks Structures, who began the project outside the ECD wing in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The previous playground, which was more than thirty years old, had seen its fair share of children. \u201cIt was falling apart,\u201d said Ms. Susan Moray, AJA\u2019s Director of Development. \u201cMany of our parents had played on that playground [and have] little children that [play on] it now.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One such parent, Mr. Ilan Tobin, mentioned that he was sure that he had been on the previous playground as a student, and that it was a place that \u201cwas such a huge part of [his] life, growing up for many years.\u201d Mr. Tobin now owns the company Peachtree Landscapes, which has been contracted to do all of the project\u2019s landscaping work. \u201cIt makes me feel very enriched to be able to play my part in making the school a better place,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When his team removed the initial retaining wall they found \u201crotten wood,\u201d showing how long the playground had been there. He mentioned that they were able to pull away the wall easily, revealing its faulty structural integrity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr. Tobin wasn\u2019t the first to discover evidence of the playground\u2019s deterioration. \u201cMultiple times over the last few years, children have brought me large bolts that they had found on the playground,\u201d said Morah Davida Graber, ECD Principal, \u201cwhich raised concerns about the structural integrity of the playground.\u201d She also mentioned that part of the plastic components of the playground had begun to crack, and a piece of the sunshade broke off, forcing the rest of the roof to be removed. \u201cIt was certainly time for an upgrade,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To raise the funds to replace the playground, Ms. Moray set up and managed a successful capital campaign. It not only reached its goals for the renovations but also gained additional funds for the rest of the school. After completing the ECD playground, the school plans to renovate the imagination playground, located near the Zone A front entrance, as well, according to Ms. Moray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The renovation plans for the new ECD playground included removing the old equipment, eliminating prickly plants that had previously lined some of the play areas, regrading the land, revamping the garden, and adding new play areas. The playground consists of three major sections. The largest structure, which has two rock climbing walls along with other climbing components, was created for kindergarteners through second graders. Additionally, the middle section, with lower and more guarded climbing locations, is intended for children ranging from three to four years old, while the smallest section was made with four slides and minimal climbing for toddlers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlong with the main play areas, the playground will also include a garden, a tricycle path, and most notably, a swing set.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Along with the main play areas, the playground will also include a garden, a tricycle path, and most notably, a swing set. The swing set was not part of the playground\u2019s original design, according to Morah Davida. In fact, the swing set was only added on when the contractors \u201cmade a mistake\u201d by spacing the initial equipment too far apart, she said. Ms. Moray took charge of the situation, negotiating a swing set as compensation for the company\u2019s spacial error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Students in the ECD are excited about the playground. Many expressed appreciation for the new equipment such as the slides and its revamped design, with a \u201ccool roof\u201d and its \u201ccool metal\u201d surfaces. Victoria, Mr. Tobin\u2019s daughter, said that she was excited for the rock climbing wall specifically. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some students, however, expressed concerns as well. One kindergartener worried about falling off of the playground (the playground\u2019s design has been approved on a safety level). Another was afraid that the entire structure would fall. Luckily, the other students were quick to point out that it would not collapse because of \u201ca retaining wall\u201d and \u201cbolts and screws\u201d that had been installed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Izzy said that she had \u201ctoo, too, too much\u201d excitement for the playground, while Henry G. returned to the tried and true \u201cinfinity and beyond.\u201d Other levels of excitement ranged from \u201c59,000\u201d to \u201cinfinity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the playground is under construction, ECD students have been going mainly to the imagination playground, and occasionally the field. While the younger kids play on the imagination playground, the lower school has been relocated to the field outside the high school. \u201cWe really appreciate the flexibility that the lower school has modeled, especially considering that the construction has taken longer than anticipated,\u201d Morah Davida said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The highly anticipated playground renovations are set to complete in early January, and ECD students are ready to enter their new world of play. \u201cI wish I could go on it right now,\u201d Yehuda P. said excitedly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ECD Replaces \u201cRotten Wood\u201d with \u201cCool Metal\u201d on Renovated Playground<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":2439,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"The new playground includes three major play areas. The middle section, pictured above, contains lower and guarded climbing locations for three- to four-year-olds \/\/ Photo by Ari Monheit","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","entry","rows"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_3368-playground-2-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/128"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2432"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2441,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2432\/revisions\/2441"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}