Students at the six elementary schools in the Northwest R-1 School District have a treat coming this year when new custom-designed playground equipment is installed at their schools. The playgrounds will feature students’ favorite choices for their schools.
The district will spend an estimated $1.5 million on the playground equipment at the six schools, funding it with revenue from the $28 million bond issue district voters approved in April 2023. Northwest Board of Education members agreed on June 27 to spend $222,004 for the Maple Grove Elementary School in Dittmer, and on June 27, the board approved a $224,376 expenditure for the House Springs Elementary School. The school board awarded the projects for both of those schools to The Playground Consultants of Wildwood.
Funding is expected to be approved for the other schools as the design work and cost information are completed.
“The playgrounds are long overdue, as they are 20-plus years old, on average,” said Mark Janiesch, the school district’s chief operating officer. “They are being updated since they are frankly worn out. The manufacturers of our current playgrounds do not make parts for them anymore.”
Students at each school helped design their playgrounds by participating in interviews with district officials this past spring. The students conveyed their ideas about the features they wanted at their schools.
“The playgrounds will be tailored to each location,” Janiesch said. “We wanted to find out what they like to play on.”
“Slides and swings were the most popular requests,” said Grace Green, assistant superintendent. “The kids were ecstatic. They had some fun ideas like a petting zoo, stargazing, a zipline and a greenhouse to grow vegetables. Some of the schools will have a rock-climbing wall and a spider web.”
The Playground Consultants will install the playground structures and a safe surface at the Maple Grove and House Springs elementary schools. The company is a partner with BCI Burke Co. of Fond du Lac, Wis., founded in the 1920s. On the Burke Co. website, its tagline is “Play That Moves You.”
“The Burke equipment outshined the rest in terms of warranties, which help make the playgrounds last a little longer,” said Kasey Schaffer, Northwest facility director. “Our biggest issue with our play structures is not the structures themselves but rather the slides. Burke boasts a 10-year warranty on glass-fiber-reinforced plastic products compared to a five-year warranty with our current playground structures.
“Burke was also willing to meet us on price, as they were looking to expand more south. In addition to the Sourcewell cooperative discount of $17,438, we received a discount of $18,293 for the Maple Grove playground.”
The following, Schaeffer said, is the timeline for building the new playgrounds:
■ House Springs Elementary: Demolition of the old playground structure has begun and installation of the new playground will begin in September.
■ Maple Grove Elementary: Demolition of the old structure will begin in September, followed by installation of the new playground.
■ Cedar Springs Elementary in House Springs and Brennan Woods in High Ridge: Playground design is underway.
■ High Ridge Elementary and Murphy Elementary in High Ridge: Projects have not begun.
In addition to the estimated $1.5 million the district plans to spend on the playgrounds at the elementary schools, the school board has awarded a $169,222 contract to The Playground Consultants to install new Burke playground equipment at the Early Childhood Center in House Springs. The installation is underway and expected to be finished this month, Schaffer said.
Northwest district employees are overseeing about 20 percent of the bond issue projects, and the playground projects are part of those.
S.M. Wilson & Co. of St. Louis, which the district hired as construction manager, will oversee the remaining 80 percent or so of the bond issue projects, which includes the secured entry renovation and the addition to the Northwest High School field house.
At the June 27 board meeting, Janiesch provided the following update on the projects the district’s Facilities Management Department is overseeing:
■ Replacement of fire alarm panels, which cost $260,000, has been completed
■ Installation of a new $360,000 phone system is ongoing
■ Replacement of a new intercom system, which will cost $145,000, is ongoing
■ Installation of a new surveillance system is being completed at the elementary schools and set to begin at the secondary schools. The project will be funded with $900,000 in bond issue revenue, plus $450,000 in grant money.
In other Northwest school news, it was reported that scholarships of $2.2 million were awarded to the most recent graduating class, though the total awards were not likely complete due to a delay in federal student aid information. The report is based on a survey sent to the graduates, of which 361 students responded.
The awards included $1.1 million in military scholarships to 11 students, $813,164 to 140 seniors who completed the A+ program, $120,000 to 14 seniors who received Missouri Bright Flight awards based on ACT scores of 31 or better, and $72,100 to students who qualified for community and local scholarships.
Forty-one percent of the 2024 graduates plan to attend a four-year college or university compared with 29 percent of the 2023 graduating class.