House Springs Elementary School has a new playground.
Students love it, Principal Angie Ritzel said.
“Our students think our new playground is amazing,” she said. “When I asked some of the kids how they liked the new playground, they said things like, ‘We love it; the new slide is perfect; the soft surface makes us feel safe; and it was finished faster than we thought.’ We are beyond grateful for our community’s support to make this possible for our kids.”
Students began using the new playground on Oct. 7, said Chuck McPherson, spokesman for the Northwest R-1 School District.
The playground cost $224,376 and was funded with revenue from a $28 million bond issue district voters approved in April 2023, McPherson said.
The bond issue also will fund new playgrounds at the district’s five other elementary schools – Maple Grove, Cedar Springs, Brennan Woods, High Ridge and Murphy elementary schools. Altogether, the district will pay an estimated $1.5 million for the six new playgrounds.
District officials said the playgrounds at House Springs Elementary and the other elementary schools were 20-plus years old and needed replaced.
They said students were interviewed about what kinds of features they wanted to see in their new playgrounds, and all the playgrounds will be tailored to the individual schools.
Demolition of the old playground at Maple Grove Elementary has begun and the installation of the new equipment is expected to be completed this week, McPherson said Oct. 11.
“Some of the (old) equipment was left for the students to play during the demolition and construction process. Once the equipment is fully assembled, we will be adding the ‘fall’ surface to the playground, which makes for a softer landing in the event of a fall,” he said.
McPherson said plans for the playgrounds at Brennan Woods and Cedar Springs elementary schools are slated to be presented to the Board of Education on Oct. 24.
He said those two playgrounds are expected to be installed before the winter break.
Plans for the playgrounds at High Ridge and Murphy elementary schools will be presented to the board this winter, with installation planned by early spring, he added.
The Northwest School District’s Early Childhood Center in House Springs also got a new playground, which cost $169,221.66. Students started using the playground on Aug. 20, McPherson said.
Other bond issue projects
Bond issue revenue also will be used to build an addition at House Springs Elementary.
Northwest Board of Education members agreed on Sept. 19 to spend $4,478,427 to have the addition built. It will house a gymnasium and double as a storm shelter.
McPherson said that expenditure will cover everything to construct the gymnasium portion of the addition.
That includes site work, asphalt paving, steel erection, concrete flatwork, flooring, doors, bleachers and more, he said.
The tilt-up panels and double-T beams needed for the walls and roofing system for the storm shelter will cost $1,039,854, and the board approved that expenditure in July.
McPherson said the district is working to secure construction permits and expects construction to start this month and be completed in about a year.
An addition that will double as a storm shelter also will be built at Northwest High School, and an addition, including a storm shelter, is in the works for Valley Middle School.
“Any addition that we add to any school that will house students must double as a storm shelter,” McPherson said. “When you add onto a school, the addition must have storm shelter housing capabilities to house the number of occupants in the addition, at minimum.”
Construction has begun on the 15,900-square-foot, two-story addition at the high school. It will include a field house and cost about $6.8 million. It is expected to be completed by next July, he said.
The Valley Middle School addition will house fine arts classrooms and will cost an estimated $4.9 million. Design work for that addition began in March, and the district is scheduled to award construction bids in January, with construction slated to start in February and be completed by August 2026, McPherson said.