Building a Village and its Playground

Our Lower School team has done truly remarkable work in the last month. They have maintained their usual high teaching standards, all while purging and purging some more and then packing up years’ worth of classroom tools, decor and memories. Ultimately, in a week, they drew on their incredible organizational skills and impressive knack for creating inviting spaces, along with a surge of adrenaline, to set up fabulous new learning spaces. 

Cozy, comfortable and casual, our Lower School Village classrooms have wonderful elements to let our students know they are at home. Some have doorbells (part of the security routine as the doors remain locked through the day, but occasionally, a child has to leave and return). Some have new cubbies. Some took cubbies from the old building with them. The new rooms have morning meeting rugs, windows on two sides, and their very own bathroom, along with high-functioning internet access.  

While the teachers were laying out their new rooms and finding ways to make their spaces special, Assistant Head of Lower School Kelly Lanier Tierce ’93 focused on the common areas. She took student-decorated ceramic tiles from the old building and attached them to the exterior of the village buildings. She created porch-like resting areas, complete with Adirondack chairs, potted plants and gnome homes. 

Most important of Ms. Tierce’s work has been “building” the new playground for second, third and fourth graders. (First grade uses the JK-K playground.) Every few days, she is adding an element. Having added the new element, she and the teachers then sit back to watch how the students use the elements. As of today, she has unveiled spike ball nets, soccer goals, a mini basketball hoop for “dunking practice,” a giant Connect 4 game, and a plethora of balls. A geodesic dome climbing structure is on its way, and a hand-built bridge constructed by our Plant Ops team spans the “creek bed” that first graders cross when entering a new side gate to the JK-K playground.

With all of those purchases, the most popular part of the Village Playground is the free, undesignated, “unplayground” part: the area under the decking. Each post creates about a 6-foot by 4-foot area with a 3-foot “roof”: great spaces for imaginative kids to play. Kelly and Head of Lower School Trey Blair know their students. They are children who love creating their own games and converting spaces into forts, hideaways, and clubs. Going forward, the plan is to keep watching what elements the kids enjoy the most and how they use them, adding more of the popular elements while bringing in new and different toys and features as we grow into the wonderful Lower School Village. We look forward to sharing the classrooms with you in a January Open House.