Education committee discusses plan for shared playground between Ledge Street Elementary and Boys and Girls Club

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NASHUA, NH – Ledge Street Elementary School principal Chas Miller, educator Michelle Mills and Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua executive director Craig Fitzgerald and Senior Director of Club Operations Ashley Fudala presented plans for a shared playground between the two entities at the Board of Education Finance and Operations Committee meeting on Tuesday.

Miller explained that while Ledge Street’s current playground is up to safety standards, it is small, outdated, very close to the road and not handicapped-accessible with a lack of age-appropriate equipment. 

The updated playground will be located behind the school and it will geographically connect the school with the Boys & Girls Club. It will include a side designed for students in kindergarten through second grade, a side for those in third through fifth grade and a multi-use field. 

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“The success of this really stems from aligned mission [and] aligned core values. … We serve the same kids [and] the same community.” Fitzgerald said. “[We’re] coming together … to maximize youth impact. Let’s give them the best quality playground, the best quality outdoor experiential learning we can, but let’s drive down cost and stretch that donor dollar by working together. That’s the goal of this initiative.”

The school district will not be responsible for any of the funding for the playground. The Boys & Girls Club have secured funding for playground equipment and a civil engineering assessment by a club donor. Both the school and the Boys & Girls Club will jointly apply for grants to fund other costs. 

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The usage of the space is currently outlined in the playground initiative as follows.

• Ledge Street to have full access to playground and multi-use field during school hours (8:15am to 2:40pm).

• Ledge Street to have full access to grades K-2 portion of playground during afterschool program and summer operating hours.

• Boys & Girls Club to have full access to grades 3-5 portion of playground and first right-of-access to multi-use field afterschool (2:40pm and beyond) and during the Club’s summer operating hours.

• Ledge Street to have access to multi-use field when the Club is not utilizing the space during afterschool hours, and/or both entities will use the field in partnership for joint activities.

• Playground to be open to Nashua community during hours that both Ledge Street and the Club are not in operation.

Usage and maintenance of the space will be clarified in an MOU. 

The committee approved a recommendation to have the plan presented to the full Board of Education at a later date that has not yet been determined.

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