Playground a big deal?

[Anonymous]

I don't know why MV gets so much grief about their lack of a playground. Today I unfortunately had to drive on Florida Ave past Two Rivers - if you want to talk about being by a busy road and lack of a playground 2R wins hands down but it doesn't seem to hurt their popularity much. Same for MV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why MV gets so much grief about their lack of a playground. Today I unfortunately had to drive on Florida Ave past Two Rivers - if you want to talk about being by a busy road and lack of a playground 2R wins hands down but it doesn't seem to hurt their popularity much. Same for MV.

part desperation part excitation.

[Anonymous]

Teacher here,

My kids go insane if they can't get to the playground each day. Rainy days are a struggle, so I can't imagine working at a school that doesn't have access to one at all. Younger kids have a lot of energy that builds up throughout the day. We incorporate movement into our lessons, but nothing beats laps around the playground equipment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why MV gets so much grief about their lack of a playground. Today I unfortunately had to drive on Florida Ave past Two Rivers - if you want to talk about being by a busy road and lack of a playground 2R wins hands down but it doesn't seem to hurt their popularity much. Same for MV.

They get so much grief because they are negligent. In the past 2 months alone, there have been 5+ major incidents involving injury to students and negligent teachers not appropriately supervising.

[Anonymous]

OP, is aftercare a big as well?

[Anonymous]

I like the vertical aspect of the playground at my kids DCPS elementary. The climbing structure and monkey bars a d both great for upper body strength. Upped body strength helps kids sit and learn in the classroom.

[Anonymous]

I love MV, but I was also turned off by the lack of a playground. My dc is a "runner" and I heard a few stories about rock throwing etc. It's a great school probably but there are other immersion cbarters and expeditionary learning cbarters out there.

[Anonymous]

I think some sort of playground is important but having a large playground a few blocks away (like is the case with MV) is fine with me.

What was more important to me was the schools bad weather policy (making sure they weren't overly conservative about when kids wouldn't be allowed outside for recess) and making sure that on bad weather days there are other movement activities done inside and no screen time.

[Anonymous]

These articles get to the heart of it for me: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/10/07/the-right-and-surprisingly-wrong-ways-to-get-kids-to-sit-still-in-class/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/07/08/why-so-many-kids-cant-sit-still-in-school-today/

It's not about the playground, per se. It's about having space where kids can run around and burn off some energy. Although in my experience, with my two active kids, "outdoor space" without playground equipment just doesn't cut it. They get much better quality of play/exercise when there is actually playground equipment. They play "harder" and longer.

[Anonymous]

Actually my kid goes to school so I can work, not only for education. The formal education part could probably be done in 2 hours (reading and math). The rest of the time I prefer him to be getting exercise, playing, and doing self-directed stuff. So the playground is important and underutilized imo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like the vertical aspect of the playground at my kids DCPS elementary. The climbing structure and monkey bars a d both great for upper body strength. Upped body strength helps kids sit and learn in the classroom.

Which school? Would love to get ideas for MV.

[Anonymous]

What troubles me about Mundo Verde is that they had a chance, now in their permanent space, to fix the playground issue and chose not to. How's it going to work when the school is at full capacity which I believe is about 700 kids? The all purpose room, fl ave park and the mini outdoor space just don't seem to cut it. And this is their PERMANENT space. And I feel for the neighbors whose park is constantly overrun with waves of children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What troubles me about Mundo Verde is that they had a chance, now in their permanent space, to fix the playground issue and chose not to. How's it going to work when the school is at full capacity which I believe is about 700 kids? The all purpose room, fl ave park and the mini outdoor space just don't seem to cut it. And this is their PERMANENT space. And I feel for the neighbors whose park is constantly overrun with waves of children.

Really 700 kids? Yikes!

[Anonymous]

Again, DCUM spouting off what they don't know.

The administrators and educators at MV appreciate the role of play and physical activities in children as much as parents- and the kids themselves. As a previous poster indicated, there are stipulations in the DC building code that require certain amounts of space are allocated for different elements of a building and its environment. The outdoor area in the rear, ideal for a playground in the minds of parents, administrators, etc. is required to be a parking place by DC code. They tried multiple avenues for a variance but were unsuccessful. So they, like other schools, will do the best with what they can. Mobile play area, blue blocks, playground equipment that challenges kids that can be utilized in that space.

Please don't speak of what you don't know to be true.

[Anonymous]

It's not sad, until you visit other DC schools that DO have nice playgrounds for both toddlers and elementary kids, and plenty of green grass, and blacktop for basketball etc., and a vegetable garden....and then realize what your kids are missing. Especially if they are in aftercare all afternoon 5 days a week.