The first day of school at Silver Beach Elementary had a new feature this year: an inclusive playground.
The revamped play area is one of four in the Bellingham Public Schools (BPS) district that is being rebuilt with accessibility-focused structures for children with disabilities.
In addition to playground staples such as swings and monkey bars, the renovated playground includes sensory elements, such as a giant xylophone and a rain-sound station.
After saying goodbye to their families Thursday, kids explored the new playground before the school day began. Second grader August Williams, 8, enjoyed the new slide.
“This one’s way better,” Williams said about the new area. “There’s a lot more stuff to play on.”
One of the biggest changes was the switch from woodchips to a flat, flexible rubber tile surface.
“The woodchips really impacted the ability of some of our students that had mobility issues,” said Jodi Haggen, a special education teacher at Silver Beach Elementary. “It was really hard for students with wheelchairs to access the playground because we had a curb to try to keep the woodchips in.”
The Silver Beach playground will also be getting a communication board this year with visuals that students can point at as a way to communicate with peers while playing.
The push for inclusive playgrounds has been in the works within BPS for years. In 2021, the Ad-Hoc Advisory Committee – of which Haggen was a member – was created to discuss the design and implementation of playground improvements for three new elementary schools — Alderwood, Parkview and Sunnyland elementary schools.
In addition to the committee, a Facilities Planning Task Force was created from community members throughout BPS to identify which schools and facilities were in need of repair, replacement and upgrade. This task force outlined how the 2022 school facilities bond would be implemented throughout the school district when it passed.
The $122 million bond gave funding for Silver Beach, Geneva, Northern Heights and Wade King elementary schools to upgrade their playgrounds to the same standards recommended by the Ad-Hoc Advisory Committee.
“Our old playground was really, really old,” said Teri Herda, principal of Silver Beach Elementary School. “And I mean, my kids went to Silver Beach. My son is 32 — he played on that playground. So, we were due for a new playground.”
Kate Macdonald, 9, is a fourth grader at Silver Beach Elementary School. She enjoys playing on the spinning structures of the new playground.
“I like that the playground is made for everyone,” Macdonald said.
