Louisville Elementary Playground
Louisville Elementary alone has seen an increase in our student population grow by fifty-five percent in eleven years. We are currently serving over three-hundred students in grades PK-5. As we continue to grow, our district strives to continue to provide a safe playground environment for our students. We have a dedicated and caring staff whose main focus is for the safety, welfare, and education of the children we serve. We are very proud of our students, families, and staff members and the learning opportunities they experience together each and every day.
The current play area was built in 1993, with limited updates to the current structure since it’s initial implementation. In 2010, in order to improve the safety of the playground area, community members poured a new concrete surface and placed rubber tiles over the existing concrete. After five years of weathering, these individual tiles are starting to pop up, causing a safety issue for our students and a need to update the space. The play structure and swings that exist are surrounded by wood chips; although they assist in the safety of the area, they limit the accessibility for our students with limitations in their mobility. Although the playground is functional for our students, it is in need of several updates, or additions that would improve both the safety and accessibility for every student. As we have learned in our research, there are several new options that would do just that, and withstand the Nebraska weather we are so familiar with in Louisville. This playground will support our students, families, and teachers in doing these things as we help our students learn how to interact and to be leaders in our changing society. This project will significantly impact all children in our community. There is a small community park in Louisville, but the school is where many children and their families come to spend time together outside of school. We want this space to become a place where all children have equal opportunities to play, where families can engage with one another and with other families. It is our dream for this to be the place where the youngest members of our community feel: valuable, successful, and accepted.
The current play area was built in 1993, with limited updates to the current structure since it’s initial implementation. In 2010, in order to improve the safety of the playground area, community members poured a new concrete surface and placed rubber tiles over the existing concrete. After five years of weathering, these individual tiles are starting to pop up, causing a safety issue for our students and a need to update the space. The play structure and swings that exist are surrounded by wood chips; although they assist in the safety of the area, they limit the accessibility for our students with limitations in their mobility. Although the playground is functional for our students, it is in need of several updates, or additions that would improve both the safety and accessibility for every student. As we have learned in our research, there are several new options that would do just that, and withstand the Nebraska weather we are so familiar with in Louisville. This playground will support our students, families, and teachers in doing these things as we help our students learn how to interact and to be leaders in our changing society. This project will significantly impact all children in our community. There is a small community park in Louisville, but the school is where many children and their families come to spend time together outside of school. We want this space to become a place where all children have equal opportunities to play, where families can engage with one another and with other families. It is our dream for this to be the place where the youngest members of our community feel: valuable, successful, and accepted.