MacArthur Elementary Scores A New Playground

WALTHAM, MA — A decade in the making, the MacArthur Elementary school just upgraded their playground. Wednesday morning the school community celebrated the opening, complete with a ribbon cutting and the mayor taking a trip down the slide to the delight of everyone watching.

"It means a lot to the school," said MacArthur Principal Jane Gately. When the school was built in 2006 there was a small playground but because of its size only the younger children could play on it, she said. Older students, from third grade on up didn't have a play structure on top of that, the field and basketball court were in rough condition. Now the playground can hold children from all ages at the school and the fields and basketball area have been upgraded.

The project, was originally estimated at $350,00 for a new play structure, but adding the work, renovation and soccer field repair the final cost was about $685,000. Funding came from a mix of the private and public sector.

"There were a few starts and stops. Because I don't think anybody realized the extent of the money that would need to be fundraised. I had two PTO parents who took the reigns and were just determined to make this happen," she said.

Gately said in the seven years she's been principal the idea has been kicking around but to see children enjoying the playground and fields now during school and after school is the point.

"The kids, they'e just enjoying it to no end," Gately said. "It's a win for everybody and it took all the community people in Waltham working together."

Shannon Juliano, one of the many parents who helped shepherd the project during the past decade, echoed that sentiment. "It was a long time coming but well worth the wait," she said.

"Overall it turned out great. The kids love it. Teachers love it and say they feel safe watching the kids play on it. It is much bigger than we had anticipated but it fits the space really well," said the mother of four young children.

Two years ago Shannon Juliano and Katie Laughman both with children at the school heard about the project that had been in the works for 10 years and picked up the baton on the community effort.

More than a decade ago Tom and Tracy Ferree, with a child at the school and more coming, helped get the ball rolling, had studies performed and took it as far as they could take it. About three and a half years ago Jen Priore and a team of other parents and community members came on board and brought fundraising ideas, spoke with designers on ideas for the structure and brought the process further along.

Juliano insisted she and the most recent team to work on it were just the closing act. It was the community members like the Ferrees and Priore who did most of the heavy lifting that paved the way for other committees along the way until she and Laughman came along and co-chaired the playground committee, she said.

"It shows how much the community can come together you have a vision and you just keep building upon it," she said.

The biggest challenge was learning to navigate the city and school committee approval process she said.

The group had to learn how the process worked, present a number of times and go to hearings and meetings, put up surveys and come up with a comprehensive plan incorporating feedback from community members and teachers during the past two years.

"It was a tremendous community effort," said Juliano, adding that the mayor's support was key.

Although Juliano has lived in Waltham her entire life, this was the first time she'd gotten involved with such a large community effort she said.

Her biggest take away?

"If you have persistence you're going to achieve it. There was no way I was going to give up on these kids. You follow the process and just keep going," she said.

And the end result is not just a playground for MacArthur it's also a playbook for all the other schools in the city who are in need of a new playground.

Juliano and the playground committee team put together a guide for other schools to help them should they want to do something similar.

"Hopefully it will help them get to where we got a lot sooner than the 10 years it took us," she said.

The playground committee raised about $100,000 from box tops and other fundraisers, the biggest chunks of funding came from Community Preservation Committee, Disabilities services Commission, and donations came in from a number of private companies including, Hobbs Brook Management, Watertown Savings Bank and Belmont Savings Bank. The mayor's office paid for the design fee.

Photo courtesy Shannon Juliano.