When the De Soto School District opens its new Athena Satellite Early Childhood Center next school year, it will have some brand new playground equipment. The playground will be installed on a fenced-in empty field on the Athena Elementary School campus, 3775 Athena School Road in the De Soto area.
The School District will also get new playground equipment at its existing Early Childhood Center, 1812 Rock Road, in De Soto.
According to Board of Education documents, the total cost for the two playground systems, including installation and pour-in-place rubber safety surfacing, will be $261,498.56.
In October, the De Soto Board of Education voted unanimously to buy the equipment from GameTime, which is based in North Carolina. The company will also install the equipment.
As part of the school board’s motion, it also agreed to accept a $65,901 GameTime Community Championship Grant from the company to help cover the cost. The district will also use Ameren rebate funds and capital funds to cover the remaining $195,597.56 cost.
“As we are opening up a new early childhood satellite center at Athena (at the start of the 2026-2027 school year), we have to have some age-appropriate playground equipment out there,” De Soto Superintendent Ron Farrow told the school board. We found a grant that has matching funds for the equipment.”
Farrow said the playgrounds will provide a meaningful use of the district’s recent Ameren rebate of $101,434.32 from bond improvement projects. The remaining balance of $94,163.24 will come from Fund 4 Capital Project funds.
“These (capital project) funds come from already budgeted capital project allocations made possible by savings in this year’s technology budget,” he said. “This project represents another example of how De Soto continues to invest wisely in facilities that directly benefit students while remaining good stewards of taxpayer dollars.”
Farrow said he and Nicole Spruell, director of communications, digital learning and chief grant writer, worked to get the GameTime grant, adding that as the two were looking at playground equipment for the new Athena Satellite Early Childhood Center, they realized the playground equipment at the main existing Early Childhood center was outdated.
He said playground equipment was replaced at Athena and Vineland elementary schools in recent years, but the Early Childhood Center has not had any significant playground improvements for some time.
“It’s not where it needs to be for our kids,” Farrow said. “While we were (planning on) purchasing equipment for the Athena Early Childhood Center, it made sense to go ahead and upgrade the (main) ECC as well. Plus, we had to have at least $75,000 in equipment to get the matching funds, so it made sense to do two systems at once.”
The equipment for both locations will be identical.
Farrow said both playgrounds will feature state-of-the-art equipment and premium, pour-in-place surfacing designed for safety, accessibility and durability.