AHES Takes Play to New Level

“Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn.” – O. Fred Donaldson, founder of “Original Play”

At Atlantic Highlands Elementary School (AHES) play is serious business. “Play is an extremely important component to learning and we routinely utilize play in a variety of ways to foster creativity, provide social opportunities, and encourage exercise,” said principal, Mrs. Janet Walling. “As some of our playground equipment needed to be replaced and upgraded, we were extremely happy to have been able to not only add new equipment to our current playground, but equipment that would be exciting to children who may have outgrown the existing, older equipment.” Over the past few years, AHES has enhanced outdoor time for students by adding field equipment to encourage free play & games - such as soccer goals & nets - and installing a learning garden and outdoor classroom area.

A few days before school was set to begin, AHES opened their new playground area by inviting students and families to try out the new equipment, meet their teachers and enjoy some popsicles. Students were seen happily climbing, running and playing. “It could not have been a better way to introduce the new playground,” said Mrs. Walling, “Everyone had a great time and thanks to the PTO for providing popsicles on a hot summer day!”

The new playground equipment, excavation, landscaping & installation cost the school roughly $70,000, however, the expense was minimized due in great part to the expertise of the school’s business administrator, Mrs. Janet Sherlock. Mrs. Sherlock had already planned and budgeted for the new equipment and also applied for a state ROD (Regular Operating District) grant as the equipment was nearing the end of its lifecycle. In order to maximize the grant allocation, which covered 40% of the cost, she worked through an intensive, public pre-bid process. A coalition of parents, Board of Education members, administrators and teachers assisted by researching and providing advice on types of equipment as well as design of playground space. “We were fortunate to get the ROD grant when we did so that our playground meets safety standards as we enter the new school year. The entire team worked hard to provide input and the result is that, in essence, the school doubled its playground space as the new equipment can be used to play both above and below,” stated Mrs. Sherlock. “We also appreciate the contribution from our PTO, who donated $3,000 towards the expansion.”

Dr. Susan Compton, Superintendent of Tri-District Schools, stated “I’m so grateful to have such an involved and committed team of parents, BOE committee members and school staff; they worked tirelessly to get this grant approved to secure the funding needed to install the new playground equipment for our students. In years past, the PTO has fundraised to add to the playground and this is a continuation of that process. Playgrounds are instrumental in the learning process; free play is more than just a break in the school day, it’s a chance for students to interact on a whole other level and develop important social skills.”