Knollwood School Welcomes Students Back with New Playground

There were high hopes this summer that a new playground for use by Knollwood School’s fourth and fifth graders would be ready for action on the first day of classes.

Those hopes came to fruition as a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on the afternoon of September 3, the day before the start of the school year.

Children swarmed onto the playground after the blue ribbon – representing the color of the school mascot, the Knollwood Knight -- was ceremoniously snipped away. They were delighted with features including a corkscrew slide, tunnels, bridges, “monkey” bars, and built-in plastic bongo drums.

Participating in the ribbon-cutting were Fair Haven Superintendent of Schools Nelson Ribon, Business Administrator Val Petrone, Board of Education President Mark Mancuso, Knollwood School Principal Kevin Davis, and 2013-14 Parent Teacher Association (PTA) President Bennett Coleman.

The new playground will be available to fourth and fifth graders during recess, and can also be used by local children after the end of the school day and before dusk. The playground is located on Hance Avenue in Fair Haven at the north end of the school building.

Approximately 40 percent of the funding for the construction and landscaping of the new playground was provided by the Fair Haven PTA.

Jennie Lucci, who has been active on the PTA board and is President for the 2014-15 school year, expressed gratitude for playground’s opening and the assistance provided by a local business.

“We are super-excited to provide our fourth and fifth graders with this wonderful new option during recess, and would like to thank Privatera’s Landscape Nursery for being so helpful” said Lucci.