Lone Dell Elementary Receives Grant for All-Inclusive Playground

Lone Dell Elementary has received a $15,000 grant to help build an all-inclusive playground to bring children of all abilities together to learn, play and grow.

The school was a regional winner in the national School Grounds. Playgrounds. Common Ground. essay contest. The playground equipment will be supplied by Landscape Structures in partnership with the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) Foundation.

Between 28 and 30 percent of the students at the school have special needs, said Principal Luann Domek. Two of the school's classrooms include special needs' students from all over the district.

"The children are integrated throughout the day while they are in class," she said. "But when they get to the playground, everything falls apart."

Domek said the new playground will create more of a social environment for all children. She said it will include concrete instead of mulch, allowing for wheelchair accessibility, shade for children who can't regulate their body temperatures and a handicapped accessible picnic table.