Thanks to the generosity of Community Giving, a brand-new student-and-faculty designed ECE Playground was unveiled on campus last week. The new playground is a living example of the IB at work at the International School of Denver. The new outdoor learning and playspace allowed every ECE student to exercise their agency - voice and choice - in the project.

This community dream began a year and a half ago, thanks to your generous donations at Global Gala that provided the funding to kickstart this project. Once we had the resources, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work. Our first step was to ask our students and teachers what they envisioned for the playground. The ideas poured in, and we gathered all their wonderful suggestions on a wall in the building. Our K3 students even created clay designs reflecting the wishes of their K1 and K2 classmates. Every voice was heard, and all ideas were valued—they were fantastic!

 - Maria Rodriguez, ECE Principal and Director of the Spanish Program and Accreditation

Natural playground inspired by  Reggio Emilia philosophy

Taking cues from our IB and Reggio Emilia-inspired learning approaches, a natural playground was selected for the final design. Unlike traditional plastic plug-and-play structures, natural playgrounds are more accessible, help children be more active, encourage imaginative play, improve social skills, and aid in the development of motor skills. 

We teamed up with John Urbana, a longtime partner with us on creative construction projects, who embraced this challenge and helped transform our community dream into reality. The equipment and materials in our beautiful new outdoor space are sourced from the same place as the new Denver Museum of Nature & Science Museum Outdoor Nature Play Experience in City Park. You’ll see the similarities between the two natural playgrounds during your next visit to DMNS.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Thank you to our very generous community for their giving that made this new playground possible!

Special thanks to these key individuals:

• Maria Rodriguez for her leadership 
• Bob Carignan for his support, involvement, and help to make this dream true
• Megan Muller, our Director of Licensing and Compliance, who ensured our playground meets all safety requirements, 
• Our amazing maintenance team who contributed their expertise to various projects on-site.
• Our admin and tech teams also played a vital role in communicating our progress and organizing the opening.

What are students saying about the new playground? See for yourself - it’s a hit!