PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia School District unveiled facility improvements Monday at John B. Kelly Elementary School in Germantown, including plans for an outdoor classroom.
There are upgrades inside and out. Principal Alia Dickerson told her students that same day construction on the school’s state-of-the-art playground was finished — “I told them, ‘Get ready. Recess today is going to be one like no other.’”
The new green-and-yellow play structure behind the school is built upon a soft surface that’s much bouncier and safer than asphalt.
By springtime, Dickerson said, a grassy area behind the school will become an outdoor classroom where students can experience and connect with nature.
“We have the shade structure coming. We have benches. We have new trash cans that are coming just to really allow the different spaces where students can go,” Dickerson told KYW Newsradio. “It’ll allow students to explore and bring nature into the classroom.”
The school also showed off its new library. District Library Director Jean Darnell said aside from the new furniture and supply of grade-level books, the library will be staffed by volunteers from the Philadelphia Alliance to Restore School Librarians.
“This a beautiful library. It’s well-maintained. It’s curated by our friends at PARSL,” she said. “We have new furniture, books, decorations. We have probably a total of 20 or so volunteers that come in here pretty regularly,” Darnell said.
Fundraising by Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, along with contributions from the state and the district covered the $350,000 price tag for the upgrades at Kelly.