Plans for Bronx Delta Playground Project Takes Shape

Current condition of the Bronx Delta Playground.

This post is written by Emily Oppenheimer, Program Coordinator for the Partnership for a Healthier Bronx.

Currently, the Bronx Delta School playground is a bare and empty blacktop, in poor condition, without any play structures. The school is located in the Throgg’s Neck Community of the Bronx. The current outdoor space does not entice the 800 plus elementary and middle school students to engage in active play or movement.

Good news, changes are happening at the schoolyard! In February 2016, students began to design play yard renovations, led by Trust for Public Land (TPL). As part of that process, students took a fieldtrip to CS 300 to learn firsthand about a similar Bronx playground project with TPL.

Despite cold temperatures and impending snow, the students ran, jumped, climbed, threw balls, tumbled and explored with glee around the newly renovated CS 300 play yard. Through the TPL process, students select a playground theme; CS300 students chose the sky, “so that when you run, you can feel like you’re flying.” Mr. Dubois, a science teacher whose class is participating in the design process explained, “This really is an amazing project, these students will leave their legacy.”

While visiting CS300, students were immediately engaged with the colors, shapes, structures, plants and art. The energetic transformation to active play was palpable when compared to the passive standing I typically observe at Bronx Delta School’s current playground.  The playground visit gave the students ideas to influence their own playground designs for the Bronx Delta School.

Trust for Public Land engages the entire community in the process. This week I joined Joan Keener of TPL at the PTA Meeting. Joan shared the two student-created playground designs, developed by the four co-located schools and the Phipps Beacon Program. It was fun to hear parent thoughts and perspectives. Overall, there was a lot of excitement, especially given that most families live in the community, and the playground hours will be extended with these renovations.

The updated space will include a track, basketball courts, a kickball space, garden and a jungle gym. These larger scale renovations, led by TPL are funded by the Bronx Borough President through Resolution A Funding and Councilmember Vacca’s Office. Resolution A funding through the Borough President’s Office or City Council can be requested by schools and community groups to initiate large-scale improvement projects, like playgrounds. The TPL designs will be ready in late April, and construction is projected to start summer 2017.

Parents reviewing the two playground designs.

In the meantime, the school received funding from Bronx Health REACH for an Active Design Project to paint the playground and plant vertical gardens. On Saturday, April 16, we’ll be painting stencils on the playground.

The Building Blocks for the Grant Avenue Elementary School Playground

This post comes to us from Bronx Health REACH public health intern, Diana Litsas.

Active Design is an exciting new approach to renovate spaces that encourages children in school to enjoy the physical, emotional, and social benefits of play and exercise1. In an effort to increase physical activity, Bronx Health REACH uses Active Design in Schools to engage students and other non-profit organizations in developing a plan for children to be active and play. Each of these projects is unique, adapting to school needs of space and budget.

Bronx Health REACH (BHR) is excited to be working on an Active Design Project to create a more engaging play yard at Grant Avenue Elementary School. Currently the outdoor space is a barren, narrow strip of concrete—a play area that seems especially inadequate as it faces a full-functioning playground which belongs to a neighboring school (the other school is overcrowded as it is, and unable to share facilities with Grant Avenue). Grant Avenue’s planned solution is an Imagination Playground2, which features movable pieces (“big blue blocks”) that allow for more dynamic and creative play compared to the fixed structures of a typical playground.

BHR joined a recent visit with Grant Avenue elementary school as they explored the Imagination Playground flagship in Burling Slip. Upon their arrival to the park, the students immediately began playing, despite the unfamiliar set of playground elements. These foam pieces encourage students to move in safe and creative ways, as they are made in a variety of shapes and sizes that give students versatility while they play with them2. While some blocks can be carried, others are bigger than some students themselves! The students built large “house” structures, as they referred to them, or use the blocks as a place to sit and socialize. Some students even arranged two rectangular blocks to construct a seesaw! The pieces were made out of a hard foam material is durable enough to withstand outside elements while being soft enough for students to stay safe when they fell on them. Few students used the blocks by themselves; most preferred to collaborate with classmates while building.

It was clear that using the blocks necessitated communication and patience among students, as they had to share and negotiate the use of certain blocks. Teacher Diana Castillo expressed her confidence that the blocks would be well received at Grant Avenue Elementary School based on the limited space they require, and how much the kids enjoyed using them.


1The Partnership for a Healthier New York City

2Imagination Playground