Liberty School - Part 1 - Kindergarten Playground

Our family's relationship with Liberty School started in 1998, when Brian was 4 years old and we were searching for an elementary school. I looked at the map, figured out which elementary schools were within a convenient distance from our house, created a set of questions, and proceeded to set up meetings with as many schools as I could. For a variety of reasons I chose Liberty School, and luckily we were able to obtain an inter-district transfer for Brian and in later years, his siblings. This ended up being one of the best decisions we made as it relates to our kids. The educational foundation that Liberty School provided ended up being a great basis for the rest of their schooling. Now they are adults, with six college degrees between the three of them, and well on their way to successful careers. Liberty deserves a lot of credit for their success.

While the kids were at Liberty I helped out on a variety of projects, from school gardens to craft projects to assisting with various fundraisers. The project I wanted to tell you about today was one of the most fulfilling, and it still brings me delight to this day when I visit the school. It is the story of how a small piece of the property was redesigned and built into a delightful kindergarten playground.

I don't remember exactly how I ended up getting involved, but I had worked with Randy and Kara Stephens-Flemming of Dreamscapes and a bunch of parents and staff over many work days to build a patio and garden around the Liberty School multi-purpose room when it was erected in 2007. I'll save that story for another time, but suffice it to say that the staff and principal at Liberty were well acquainted with Randy and Kara and the quality of their work, and Randy and Kara had experienced what it was like to work on school grounds, surrounded by the sounds of kids playing. I recall being in a meeting where there was a discussion about how to make the kindergarten playground more functional, and I offered to ask Randy to submit a design for the work. We brought together a group of parents and staff, collaborated on design ideas, and the playground was built in the spring and summer of 2012.

One of the things that was discussed prior to their involvement was leveling the hillside, to provide more flat space for the kids to play. I am delighted that we ignored that idea, as Randy came up with creative ways to use that hillside.

One of my favorite creative uses of the hillside space was the installation of slides. These slides were originally part of a play structure, and Randy acquired them inexpensively and had the idea of using them in this space. They were installed surrounded by astroturf, which minimized maintenance and allowed for kids to roll down the hill in addition to using the slides. As a kid one of my fond memories was rolling down the hill at the "ranch" where I grew up (at least until the time I picked up a bunch of ticks when doing so), so it was great to see that capability incorporated.

One of my other favorite aspects of the hillside was the "stream" that was incorporated, complete with a bridge over it and a recirculating pump. This reminded me of one of my fond memories is a kid which was playing in the rain-fed creeks that were on our property, including sailing "boats" made of margarine tubs filled with wildflowers down the creek.

The space between the slides and stream was a pathway, surrounded by easy care succulent plants, and I'm quite sure the kids had a lot of fun moving between the spaces. Kara did a great job designing the plants to be used, as the playground has lasted many years with minimal maintenance.

One of my absolute favorite examples of Randy's creativity was the "pencil fence", created by painting grape stakes to look like colored pencils. I'm quite sure it took Randy a LONG TIME to save all these colors, but when complete it was such a fun addition to the space. Below is a close-up of the "pencils".

You can also see that one of the original playhouses was left in place, and tree stumps used for stools or steps. Kids don't need a lot of fancy toys, things like stumps, boulders, or wooden blocks make for fine entertainment.

Speaking of playhouses left in place, this play structure was originally going to be removed, but it was cemented in place, so Randy figured out a way to incorporate it and make it meet accessibility requirements.

The space was surrounded by a "fence" made out of simple wooden blocks, high enough to contain the gravel but low enough to make for easy sitting or balancing on. Gravel keeps the kids safe if they fall, and provides entertainment as they can dump the gravel down chutes built into the structure. The accessibility issue was solved by building a ground level entrance on one corner. This structure was dedicated to "Miss Bessie", who taught Kindergarten at Liberty School for decades. To make the play structure even more useful, a painted "road" for tricycle traffic surrounded it.

Many other aspects of the playground make it unique. Randy was great at making use of existing components, and called upon skilled artisan friends to help. For instance, rather than remove the tree stump on the edge of the playground, he enlisted help from a friend who carved it and painted it.

Another fun addition to the playground was the construction of a "music garden", built by Liberty alumni who had gone on to study music. They used readily available materials like trash cans to allow the kids to make "music" to their hearts' content.

One of the many things that I thought was super-creative were these spinning blocks. I'm quite sure Randy constructed them from scratch, but he figured out how to install them so that kid's could spin the blocks around to make different 3-letter words.

A few final touches make this space really special. One idea we had was to install a sandbox, but of course there are the usual concerns about cats making use of the sandbox, making it unsanitary for the kids. Randy tackled this problem like many others, with a solution that was simple yet elegant, a cover could be easily installed or removed. He also had fun hiding "jewels" and other special things in the sand, anticipating the fun the kids would have finding them.

Just beside the sandbox is the "tractor shed", a place for toys and things to be stored to keep them safe and clean. Even the small fences on each side of the shed have whimsical carvings in them.

All in all, I think this project was highly successful, making full use of the space with activities that would entertain kindergarteners for years to come.

In the summer, when my kids had extra time, their help was enlisted to make the finishing touches on the playground. Given they were in high school, I believe they were actually able to be useful, and it was a small way for them to "give back" to the school. Years later, when I was at the school doing another project, I spotted this plaque on the wall. It is a testament to the many people who contributed to this project, and I am very happy to see Randy and Kara at the top of that list!

We all know that Liberty is a very special place, and it's nice to see they were recognized in this article in the local paper. No wonder they have a long waiting list!