Northside Elementary Schoolyard Design

Northside Elementary School has 376 students in Kindergarten through 5th grade. Their mascot is the Navigators, which proved to be a great source of design ideas when students were asked what they wanted in a schoolyard master plan. The schoolyard is also used as a community park for the neighborhood and the fields are used for afterschool programs and for practice by local youth soccer, baseball and softball teams. The school district, in partnership with the City of Montrose, realized that they were strong candidates for GOCO’s School Play Yard Initiative.

CCCD students captured input from students, teachers, school staff, parents and community members as a starting point for a preliminary schoolyard master plan. Overall top picks included climbing structure, a pirate ship play structure, accessible surface (replace pea gravel), shade area, swing areas, and sports areas. Northside Elementary did receive a $100,000 grant from GOCO and implementation is scheduled for Summer 2014.