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JSS Narrative_finalRequest to the Community Preservation Act (CPA) Committee of Northampton to support the Jackson Street Elementary School Ms. Agna Playground Expansion and Outdoor Classroom Illustration by Millie, 2nd Grade Request to the Community Preservation Act (CPA) Committee of Northampton to support the Ms. Agna Playground Expansion & Outdoor Classroom Table of Contents Project Goal and Summary ...................................................................................................... 3 About Jackson Street Elementary School–a very, very fine school .................................... 4 Project background and team ................................................................................................. 6 How do the playground and outdoor classroom align with Community Preservation criteria? ...................................................................................................................................... 7 How will the project meet CPA criteria and what community needs does it address? ..... 7 • Mitigating the corrosive effects of poverty • The need for a space for physical education and play, which lead to healthy cognitive and emotional development • The need for accessibility • Preserving open space for use by the wider community • Providing the school and community with a venue for vital play and recreation • Meeting the need for outdoor and experiential educational experiences • Providing long-term economic development benefits for the City of Northampton How will we guarantee the long-term preservation of the project? ................................... 13 How will the success of this project be measured? ............................................................ 14 Project budget ......................................................................................................................... 15 • Projected expenses • Projected revenue Project timeline ....................................................................................................................... 17 Endnotes .................................................................................................................................. 19 Appendices A. Letters of Support B. Visuals C. Sample Community Surveys D. Names and addresses of project architects, contractors, and consultants Narrative 3 Jackson Street Elementary School Jackson Street Elementary School: Very, very fine school’s request to the Community Preservation Act Committee of Northampton to support the Ms. Agna Playground Expansion & Outdoor Classroom Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold. –Joseph Chilton Pearce Now I see the secret of making the best persons, it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth. –Walt Whitman Project Goal and Summary The goal of the Ms. Agna Playground expansion and the development of an outdoor classroom at Jackson Street School (Jackson Street/JSS) is to ensure that all Jackson Street Elementary School students and families, as well as members of the wider community -- regardless of ability -- have play structures and associated outdoor learning and gathering centers, which address their cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development needs. Jackson Street School will build a cutting-edge, green, and accessible playground, while also developing the adjacent woods and educational space, so that our city’s children and their families can grow and learn together for years to come. These initiatives will: • Maximize land already owned by Northampton such as Jackson Street School’s campus; • Contribute to the good health of Jackson Street School students and Northampton residents; • Expand the range of recreational opportunities available to all city residents; and • Support active and passive recreation, as well as environmental education, in a green and open space. At Jackson Street School, everyone is both valuable and valued. The school recognizes and honors its responsibility to the entire community. In addition to academic growth, the school encourages its students to become thoughtful, concerned, and active citizens, and works every day to leverage its many assets for all city residents – because JSS is everyone’s school! Narrative 4 Jackson Street Elementary School About Jackson Street Elementary School–a very, very fine school Every June, Jackson Street School’s community gathers for its annual Very Fine School Celebration. Students, faculty, staff, families, and community members pack into the JSS gymnasium to celebrate the year’s many accomplishments – big and small. The community gives thanks for the wholly unique and vibrant Jackson Street School. The gym walls resound with cheers. Parents cry at one point or another with both pride and love for their children and their children’s school. The faculty ukulele band strums, and Jackson Street School’s beloved principal, Gwen Agna, leads the crowd in singing: It's a fine school! Does it make you want to read? Make you want to learn? It's a fine school! Does it make you want to think? Make you want to grow? Jackson Street School’s magic is grounded in its stunningly diverse student body. The school hosts Northampton’s elementary-level English language learners, and is home to Northampton’s ALP, or behavioral program. JSS embraces its status as one of our city's most diverse hubs. All involved strive every day to level the playing field – so to speak – for all our city’s children and their families. While Jackson Street School celebrates the racial and ethnic diversity of its children and their families, the community endeavors to meet the complex, unyielding, and unjust challenges of the many JSS families who live in poverty, or those students and families struggling with significant obstacles to learning and growth. The school’s prevailing and unwavering commitment to inclusivity is expressed beautifully by the following words, hanging within a piece of art in the main hallway, greeting students and visitors alike every day, “The world is richer than it is possible to express in any single language.” The following is a snap shot of Jackson Street School’s community:1 2 3 • For 18% of JSS students, English is not their first language. • 43.5% of Jackson Street School’s families live in poverty; compared to Northampton as a whole where roughly 13.5% of residents live in poverty. • 39.2% of JSS students are children of color; compared to roughly 12.5% at the Northampton city level. • 24.5% of JSS students live with disabilities. • 41.5% of JSS students receive free lunch. • 55.2% of JSS students are considered high need. Narrative 5 Jackson Street Elementary School The following are just a few of the hallmarks of JSS’s faculty, educational practices, and the school’s relationship with the wider community: 4 • 100% of JSS classroom teachers are certified in English as a Second Language, reading, or special education. • In one year, the JSS faculty completed 300 hours of professional development, in math practices alone. • Seven of the school’s 17 classroom teachers are bilingual. • Six of JSS’s 25 paraprofessionals, plus the office administrative staff, are bilingual/bicultural. • JSS has an emotionally responsive classroom, where students wrestling with the challenges of the day can go and process their feelings. • The JSS community strives to ensure that every single thing that’s offered to students – such as the 5th Grade overnight adventure known as Nature’s Classroom – is accessible to all. • The school has a Mindfulness Project. Every Monday the entire school meditates. • JSS holds Family Math and Language Literacy Nights. • Families with Power / Familias con Poder is a central force in the school, working with staff and faculty to ensure that all students have the opportunities they need and deserve to grow and learn. • The School Garden Project is beloved and draws together students, teachers, families, and members of the wider community. • Principal Gwen Agna oversees a PTO Emergency Fund, which helps families in crisis, paying for food, clothing, and heating bills. Narrative 6 Jackson Street Elementary School Project background and team This past June, due to increased safety concerns, JSS had to make the very tough decision to remove the volunteer-built and beloved wooden structure, which had become an iconic play space for generations of Northampton families. As sad as the Jackson Street community was to bid farewell to the structure and gathering space, it views this moment as an opportunity to create a truly accessible, environmentally sound play and educational space, tied in greater measure to the best practices of outdoor play and learning which aids in building minds, bodies, and community. After a period of reflection and dialogue where students, faculty, staff, and families considered their options for moving forward, the community decided to expand a remaining play space (lovingly called the Ms. Agna Playground) and add an outdoor classroom, rather than build an entirely new playground. The community felt that this decision would yield the best stewardship of public and private resources and have the greatest positive impact. Playground Committee (2013 to Present) Gwen Agna, JSS Principal Garrett Adams, JSS Teacher Tom Duffy, JSS Parent, Committee Chair Jordan Abbott, JSS Parent Mark Ames, JSS Parent Daniel Bradbury, JSS Parent Jo Comerford, JSS Parent Tricia Loomis, JSS Parent Jody Young, JSS Parent Support from Mary Clark, President JSS PTO Alyssa Richardson, Treasurer, JSS PTO (a JSS graduate) Betsy King Young, Secretary, JSS PTO (a JSS graduate) Narrative 7 Jackson Street Elementary School How do the playground and outdoor classroom align with Community Preservation criteria? The City of Northampton’s Community Preservation Plan (2012-2014) acknowledges the critical need for recreation and open space: “Recreation contributes to the health and well being of a community. Well- developed resources for recreation enhance quality of life, increase property values, improve health status for youth and adults, and buffer the hard edges of the urban environment.”5 In particular, the expanded playground and outdoor classroom align solidly with the following criteria: • Maximize the use of land already owned by Northampton, such as Jackson Street School's campus • Contribute to good health of Jackson Street students and Northampton residents • Expand the range of recreational opportunities available to all city residents • Support active and passive recreation, as well as environmental education, in a green and open space How will the project meet CPA criteria and what community needs does it address? Mitigating the corrosive effects of poverty A disproportionate number of Jackson Street School students and families live in poverty. Study after study documents the broad range of well-known stressors associated with poverty such as the lack of accessible places to engage in vital physical activity. Sufficient physical exercise is absolutely critical for cognitive development and physical health. In a memo to funders of early childhood programs, published this May in the journal Young Children, Dr. Sandra Waite-Stuplansky writes, “Play is the way that children [also] learn to deal with tension and stress.” Thankfully, for many low-income residents in the neighborhoods and housing developments surrounding Jackson Street, the school’s fields and play spaces are their backyards. Jon Hite, Executive Director of the Northampton Housing Authority, which has already contributed funds for the JSS project, writes, “The Northampton Housing Authority believes in the importance of the Jackson Street School Playground improvement project. Jackson Street School, and all its amenities, is vitally important to the success of our resident families at Hampshire Heights, and the many families at Hathaway Farms. Your proposal for replacing the old playground with the gorgeous new one – and one I might add that is ADA compliant – will be of great benefit to our families.” Narrative 8 Jackson Street Elementary School The need for a space for physical education and play, which lead to healthy cognitive and emotional development Play is the highest form of research. – Albert Einstein Jackson Street’s long-time Physical Education Specialist, Janis Totty, writes, “The American Heart Association recommends at least 60 minutes of developmentally appropriate and varied physical activity each day for children two years and older. According to the AHA, inactive children are likely to become inactive adults. Nearly one third of U.S. children or teens are considered overweight or obese, nearly triple the rate of 1963. Children today are living with health problems that were once only seen in adults, including high blood pressure and Type II diabetes. The ‘play infrastructure’ ideas we propose for our playground provide crucial leverage and support for a variety of rich and resonant developmental experiences. These play opportunities are also physical activity opportunities for an entire community that can be accessed 365 days each year. It costs zero dollars and zero cents to come and play at Jackson Street, and this ‘play campus’ is accessible by a short walk from the Hampshire Heights low-income housing community. The disparities in the lives of children regarding access to developmentally meaningful physical activity are real and defining. This project begins in a beautiful outdoor space and makes it even more inviting and inspiring, for all children and their families. We all need great places in which to play, to move, to learn and grow. This work to support access for all is at the heart of what we do and who we are as a public elementary school in Northampton.” Karen Jarvis-Vance, Northampton Public School’s Director of Health and Safety, continues, “Physical exercise and play are critical to developing brains. The more we understand about childhood brain development, the more we know the absolutely vital role that regular movement and creative play have in building our brains and laying down pathways in our neural structures that will last a lifetime. Much research has proven that children who move regularly and have ample opportunities for imaginary play are able to attend better in class and have increased motivation to learn. This is especially important when considering children with physical or mental challenges, as well as children who, for a variety of reasons, lack access to safe outdoor play where they live. Since Jackson Street School has long been a hub for many kinds of families, with varied circumstances, it is incredibly important that our community provides our future, the children, with a safe, accessible play space.” Narrative 9 Jackson Street Elementary School The need for accessibility Recently, the parents of a Jackson Street School student wrote a letter to principal Gwen Agna to call attention to the fact that no portion of the current Ms. Agna playground is accessible to their wonderful child, who spends a good portion of each day in a wheel chair. We’ve also received other letters from families whose children have significant gross and fine motor delays and cannot easily navigate the current structures. The expansion of the Ms. Agna will increase accessibility dramatically with the addition of the following: • An ADA-accessible concrete path that cuts through the playground • An emphasis on loose play items, allowing for self-directed play which is accessible to all • Additional shade trees for those children whose bodies must remain cool • Chin up bars accessible to a seated child • Two wheelchair accessible swings [Note: the current drawing does not show that detail. These swings will replace some current swings, already in place on the playground] • A large, accessible dish-shaped spinning element • One large, multi-person, dish-like swings which will sit at the end of the ADA pathway • A custom-built wooden structure with a ground floor full of nooks for creative play Narrative 10 Jackson Street Elementary School Preserving open space for use by the wider community Jackson Street’s campus is widely used by the wider community, in addition to its own students and families. Ann-Marie Moggio, Director of Northampton Recreation, writes that the school’s “playing fields, softball field, and basketball courts are used throughout the year by hundreds of our community’s youth and adults for various sport games, practices and passive recreation.” Danielle Clough, School Age Child Care Director at Hampshire Regional YMCA adds, “Jackson Street School, like the HRYMCA, is a focal point in the greater community. I feel like the school recognizes this, and so will take the needs of not just the Jackson Street School children, but all children in Northampton in mind when planning this new space. For these reasons, I fully support and recommend the Jackson Street School be rewarded this CPA grant.” And the leadership of Families With Power, which organizes multicultural low-income families with children from preschool through high school, notes the following, “The JSS playground brings kids and families together and keeps kids out of trouble by giving them something engaging to do and someplace fun to go. [Children] need a positive way to get their energy out and get some healthy exercise. The playground is a good place for developing their motor skills and their social skills as they play with other kids. There’s a lot of negativity in some neighborhoods and the JSS playground is a positive place to go. It’s a safe place. It’s nice for parents to go with their kids. As parents, it’s a place we can meet other parents and do things together as a family during afternoons, evenings and weekends. Many children play on the playground in the evening while their parents play soccer or basketball. It’s a healthy way for the whole family to get exercise. Especially for parents without cars, it’s great to be able to walk to the JSS playground to play with our kids, because it is closer than Look Park, and it’s free. It’s a good place to meet up with other families where we can socialize and build community or even stay after school to get some extra playtime before going home.” Elba Heredia, one of the Families with Power leaders, is also the Co-Chair of JSS’s PTO. Narrative 11 Jackson Street Elementary School Providing the school and community with a venue for vital play and recreation You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. –Plato Miles, a fourth grade student at JSS, writes that he loves “playing on structures. The yard is big and has a soccer field. The Ms. Agna playground needs to expand. I think there should be more choices for kids. People use it on the weekends. People come to have fun there, not just Jackson Street families. My family goes up to the school to play all the time. I meet my friends there. The expansion would make it more fun.” Over time, the nature and benefits of play for children and their families have become increasingly under-rated and even disregarded. Play spaces have lost the creative and imaginative aspects that are crucial for healthy development, while inside schools, students face increasing levels of pressure and stress. Thankfully, researchers and advocates have begun to study and write about the wide-ranging, positive impact of good-old, unstructured fun. The following are a few key points: • Play develops social skills and requires communication and language development.6 • Play promotes neural development in “higher” brain areas involved in emotional reactions and social learning and is critical for emotional health.7 • Increasingly researchers have begun to consider that active play can help diminish ADHD.8 • Play improves problem solving.9 • Play is key to developing self-regulation.10 • Make-believe is an essential “thinking tool” for children.11 • Play develops the vestibular sense, which provides the ability to detect motion and respond to it. A strong sense of equilibrium in relation to space and gravity is key for school readiness.12 • Play encourages interaction and cooperation.13 • Play builds community resilience and individual perseverance.14 Narrative 12 Jackson Street Elementary School Meeting the need for outdoor and experiential educational experiences I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, to confront only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach. –Henry David Thoreau JSS’s outdoor classroom will provide a space where educators can bring students into the natural world with hands-on learning experiences – identifying tree and plant species, studying and recording seasonal changes, nature-based art creation, and more. The experience of learning outside excites students and this excitement translates into their more positive experience of school. Science and math educators – seeking to reach more students – increasingly speak of the need for inquiry-based learning that is “focused on student-constructed learning as opposed to teacher-transmitted information.”15 Additionally, outdoor classrooms are recognized as venues that connect a school to the neighborhood and world-at-large. Many believe they foster environmentally-focused stewardship activities, volunteerism, and a greater sense of community belonging. Providing long-term economic development benefits for the City of Northampton Ward 1 resident, Christian Herwitz, writes the following, “I am writing in support of the Jackson Street Elementary School Community Preservation Act project. As a young professional, I am beginning to consider where I might want to make a home and family for myself. Spaces like the one proposed by this project are exactly what I look for when making these considerations.” Indeed, author and researcher Anne Marie Chaker suggests that “cities want young professionals and young families to play and stay.” And Chaker believes playground and open spaces are critical, adding, “As people age and have children, their value to communities grows, both in spending power and taxable income, [and] as people age and have children, they also tend to care more about their community.”16 Narrative 13 Jackson Street Elementary School How will we guarantee the long-term preservation of the project? The playground expansion and outdoor classroom were created through a rich and dynamic process, both to harvest great ideas and to increase community ownership. As you will note in the attached letters of support, the greater JSS community is full of playground stakeholders and supporters. Jackson Street Elementary School also has a robust PTO, a school advisory committee, and a dedicated network of enduring community volunteers. In fact, just recently, JSS principal Gwen Agna received an email from a community member whose children had passed through Jackson Street many years ago. This gentleman continues to return to the school – on evenings and weekends – to make necessary small repairs to outdoor equipment. He says he’s delighted to do it. It’s a way for him to contribute. As wonderful as that story is, it’s just one of many examples of the greater Jackson Street community coming forward to ensure follow through, consistency, and long- term capacity. Additionally, the school has a very positive relationship with the Northampton Public School’s maintenance staff, as well as city officials in Central Services and the Department of Public Works. David Pomerantz, Director of Central Services and Greg Kochan, Supervisor of School Maintenance – along with their colleagues – have been generous allies throughout JSS’s decision-making process. Mr. Kochan writes, “the playground committee can count on this office for any needed advice or guidance going forward.” Mr. Pomerantz adds, “Central Services wholeheartedly supports and endorses the project. Central Services is ready to work with you, the CPA committee, and the school community to help bring the project to fruition.” In terms of financial sustainability, the playground committee will place a secure donation box on the playground, so that the wider community can contribute to upkeep and replacement items. The committee will also schedule volunteers to host open Saturday play dates, where the loose play parts shed will be open. In addition to helping manifest Jackson Street School’s mandate to leverage its assets for the entire community, we imagine that we’ll be able to raise a minimum of $50 per Saturday play date – or roughly $1,000 each year for an average of 20 play dates per year. Narrative 14 Jackson Street Elementary School How will the success of this project be measured? • The playground committee will continue meeting with and listening to key stakeholders – from the Northampton Department of Recreation to School Committee – throughout the creation and implementation process. • The committee will also send another round of evaluation surveys to students, families, faculty, and staff. • We will hold two community forums – one before and one in the middle of the construction. • Committee members will work with Principal Gwen Agna, the PTO, and the school advisory committee to incorporate the Jackson Street School community’s feedback wherever possible. • We plan to have a donation and comment box installed near the shed, so that community members can offer feedback (and support) in a timely manner. • We imagine working closely with Ms. Totty to assess the fitness impact of an expanded play space, and working with teachers to evaluate the capacity building efforts to expand and solidify their use of the outdoor classroom. Narrative 15 Jackson Street Elementary School Project budget Projected expenses Item Est. Expense Notes Shed $1,680 To hold loose play items. Concrete pathway through playground* $9,350 Meets ADA standards; please see cost estimate and visuals Excavation and landscaping* $20,011 Creation of play mounds, installation of woodchips in fall zones; please see cost estimates and visuals Move and re-site existing gazebo* $6,500 To put it in closer proximity to outdoor classroom and to free up space for accessible pathway and mounds Custom wooden structure* $35,410 Materials and installation; please see cost estimate and visuals 2 accessible swings $15,000 To be added to existing swing sets. In process. Currently not part of visual concept – a new request to meet an emerging community need; not represented in visuals New playground equipment* $97,000 Equipment, site furnishings (benches, trash/recycling receptacles), shipping; please see visuals; formal written estimate forthcoming Playground installation and repair* $14,000 Install new equipment, repair existing equipment Outdoor classroom, Phase I $6,136 See estimate from Tree Cycle Student capacity building – outdoor classroom $5,000 Hitchcock Center for the Environment will work with classes to demonstrate how to integrate forest lessons into 21st Century science standards and enhance experiential learning of science and art Faculty capacity building – outdoor classroom $1,500 Faculty professional development focused on outdoor education Outdoor classroom, Phase II* $4,000 Further development of JSS woods with trails and elevated structures Loose parts play items for creative / student-directed / accessible play $5,000 $2,795 in 2014, additional funds for repair and replacement fund Faculty and staff capacity building – loose parts play $3,500 Trainings for teachers and recess supervisors regarding the importance and educational benefits, as well as appropriate supervision of creative play Community capacity building – loose parts play $2,500 Consultants from Play Workshop and TimberNook will facilitate Saturday student-directed play sessions Playground shade trees $5,000 Purchase of two trees, delivery, installation; shade necessary to ensure true accessibility; additional trees sought in-kind as part of Northampton’s canopy initiative Mural and painted play areas $6,000 Hire artist in residence to facilitate mural creation and the creation of play areas on the asphalt surrounding the playground; materials Plantings $1,250 Perennials and shrubs Funds to account for payment of prevailing wages $13,000 Stipulated by state grants Total $246,837 * indicates CPA request Narrative 16 Jackson Street Elementary School Projected revenue Source Est. Revenue Notes Public Northampton Housing Authority $2,000 Received for planning and initial costs Community Development Block Grant $15,000 Anticipated for play structures Massachusetts Cultural Council STARS Residency Grant $5,000 For work with classes to demonstrate how to integrate forest lessons into 21st century science standards and enhance experiential learning of science and art Community Preservation Act $176,271 Proposed for play structures, installation, ADA pathway, Excavation and Landscaping; See * expense items Private Northampton Education Foundation $5,000 Teacher professional development, Phase II outdoor classroom expenses Ezra Jack Keats Foundation $500 Mural, http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/ Prospective private foundations such as Kaboom!, Beveridge Foundation $10,000 Prospects available through: http://playandpark.com/funding/grant-opportunities/ Beveridge funds play structures in Hampshire and Hampden Counties, http://www.beveridge.org/ Individuals $18,000 $10,000 raised to date through individual gifts, a “hoop-a-thon” fundraiser, tag sales, etc. Area businesses $15,000 Realtors, hospitals, large businesses, local banks Total $246,771 Note: The JSS community is quite used to fundraisers. From the moment new families arrive, we cut box top coupons worth 10 cents each, sign up at Florence Savings Bank, register at Stop n’ Shop, contribute to the Principal’s emergency fund and after school enrichment scholarships, donate books, bake, help staff events, purchase supplies for our children’s classrooms, donate food and warm clothing, do class fundraisers for school trips, and much more. The playground committee is aware that we must not compete with the wider-school’s fundraising efforts so we have created a fundraising plan that seeks support from entities and individuals which will not take away resources bound for other school needs and opportunities. Narrative 17 Jackson Street Elementary School Project timeline Step Timeframe Substance Due diligence meetings with stakeholders Fall 2013 to present Meetings with members of Mayor of Northampton, members of City Council, School Committee members, Northampton city officials, Recreation Department officials, Northampton Public Schools maintenance officials, Northampton Department of Public Works staff, Northampton Central Services staff, Contractors, Bridge Street School playground committee In-depth surveying of JSS stakeholders regarding the existing wooden structure and the range of options available for potential future plans Fall 2013 to Spring 2014 Stakeholders included: students, faculty, staff, families, city officials, playground specialists. From playground committee chairperson, Tom Duffy, volunteer creative coordinator Dan Bradbury, and teacher representative Garrett Adams: “Because the playground improvements are a direct response to the removal of a large play space known as the wooden structure, the planning committee wanted to get a sense of what elements of the wooden structure people might want continued in the newly expanded playground. We also wanted to hear from teachers and others who supervise the outdoor play time about what types of activities they would like to see encouraged (e.g. unstructured creative play, vestibular development, etc.) The information gave us a much clearer picture of how the equipment is used, and helped to guide our thinking as we designed the expanded play area. Specifically, the feedback inspired us to create and combine elements that allow for continuous movement across a portion of the play area. Interest in playground elements that allow for creativity and imagination was also strong. Thus, we are incorporating a custom-designed and community-built structure that we hope will allow and encourage creative play.” From committee member, Mark Ames, “It was imperative to us that we seek the counsel of city officials and the Northampton Recreation Department to get a sense of the far-reaching community use of the Jackson Street campus.” From committee members Jordan Abbott and Jo Comerford, “In speaking with Jackson Street’s families, it became very clear that we absolutely had to ensure that a significant portion of the expanded playground was accessible to all.” From committee member Tricia Loomis, “It’s Narrative 18 Jackson Street Elementary School Step Timeframe Substance become more and more critical to us that we ask our wider community to invest in this beautiful project – full of such promise for JSS and all in Northampton. Our fundraising plan reflects our interest in securing support at all levels.” Purchase shed for loose play items. Spring 2014 Loose play items increase creativity and spark imaginative play Apply for a CDBG grant Spring 2014 Requested $15,000 Community event featuring a hoop-a-thon Spring 2014 Bid farewell to the wooden structure, raise funds for expansion of Ms. Agna Playground Finalize a plan, integrating known best practices around the benefits of play, play structures, outdoor education Summer 2014 Please see visuals With the help of consultants, build a realistic expense and revenue blueprint to fulfill the playground and classroom vision Summer 2014 Please see budget Complete Phase I of outdoor classroom Summer 2014 Please see visuals Register for Valley Gives (Community Foundation) and finalize giving levels and donor recognition opportunities with the goal of valuing every contribution Fall 2014 Giving levels for individuals and local businesses Install shed Fall 2014 Purchase loose play items Winter 2014 Launch loose items protocols Spring 2015 To ensure the sustainability of this endeavor, students and staff will be central in determining the protocols surrounding playing with and caring for loose play items Mobilize additional construction, fundraising, and design volunteers; secure in-kind support; approach local businesses; hold community fundraisers Fall 2014 to Spring 2015 Break ground! Summer 2015 Goal of completion by Spring 2016 Narrative 19 Jackson Street Elementary School Endnotes 1 The Massachusetts Department of Education, http://profiles.doe.mass.edu 2 U.S. census data, http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/25/2546330.html 3 Jackson Street School internal census 4 Ibid. 5 City of Northampton Preservation Plan. 2012-2014 6 “The Serious Need for Play,” The Scientific American, January 28, 2009 7 Ibid. 8 “Can play diminish ADHD and facilitate the construction of the social brain?,” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, May 2007 9 Ibid. 10 “Can the right kinds of play teach self-control?,” The School Issue: Preschool, September 27, 2009 11 “A conversation with Vivian Gussin Paley,” Young Children, September 2011 12 “Somersaults and spinning: The serious work of children’s neurological development,” Neurological Development, May/June 2013 13 “Loose parts and learning on the playground,” ChildCareExchange.com, May/June 2013 14 “Memo to funders of early childhood programs,” Young Children, May 2014 15 “The crisis in early education: A research-based case for more play and less pressure,” AllianceforChildhood.org, November 2011 16 “Cities want young families to play and stay,” AllianceforChildhood.org, August 2014