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Teller Elementary
1150 Garfield Street
Denver, CO 80206

Office Phone:
(303) 333-4285

Morning playground supervision begins at 8:45AM.

Playground Proposal

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Teller Elementary School

1150Garfield Street

Denver, CO80206

(303)333-4285

Attention Mark Bollinger

Facilities Director DPS

Dear Mr. Bollinger:

Attached please find a proposal that Teller Elementary’s Learning Landscape be moved up in priority under the 2008 Bond Program Schedule.  

As you know, wee-mailed you a copy of this proposal.  Please note that the attached version of the proposal is different in one important respect from the version we e-mailed you.  After we e-mailed the proposal to you,two more children were injured by the pea gravel on Teller’s current playground.  The attached proposal includes a discussion of those injuries.  We ask that you consider the attached proposal, and not the draft we previously e-mailed you, in evaluating our request.

Finally, we have enclosed with this letter two items referenced in our proposal:  the2004 Teller Master Plan and the signatures of Teller parents and teachers who are willing to help with installation and maintenance of our Learning Landscape.

We appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to hearing from you.

As discussed during the April 1, 2009 briefing at Lincoln Elementary, we are submitting our proposal that

Sincerely,

Leslie Henson

Jill Cooper

Twila Warner

Jennifer Barton(Principal)

Chris Baumgartner(P.E.)

and the entire Tellercommunity

cc: Benita A. Duran,Jeannie Kaplan, Lois Brink, Cate Townley, and DPS Superintendant

Dated May 19th, 2009

Proposal to move Teller Elementary from 2012 to 2010 in DPS

LearningLandscape Schedule

There are many compelling reasons why Teller should be moved up on the schedule to receive our Learning Landscape:   

• Our current playground poses a serious safety hazard to our children.  In addition to being unsafe, the playground is restrictive, unvaried and has large unusable areas.

• Teller’s current playground is too small for its current enrollment.  The problem will only get worse as enrollment continues to increase.

• The Teller community worked very hard as advocates for the 3A bond measure, motivated primarily by the prospect of a new, safe, useable playground.

• Teller is more prepared than many other DPS schools to receive a new playground, as Teller has already completed the design development process.

• Teller’s parents are motivated, involved and committed.  We are prepared to volunteer time and labor toward building and maintaining the Learning Landscape.

• It appears that Teller has moved down the priority list for a new playground as a result of its increased enrollment and higher academic performance.  Not only is this unfair, it sends the wrong message to DPS schools.

• Teller teachers have developed curricula that will integrate the Learning Landscape into our children’s academic and creative development.

• The Learning Landscape will serve our larger community, providing a safe, creative play area for the neighborhood children.

• If it is a question of, cost, we can be flexible.

Issues of Safety,Restriction Lack of Variety and Usability

Safety Issues:

1. The Teller playgrounds are currently filled in with pea gravel which butts up to handicap-accessible rubber matting and concrete. The result is a constant parade of both children and adults slipping and falling.  One child, who sustained a deep cut on her chin as the result of a fall, described it as feeling like she was on “a thousand tiny roller skates”.  Here are a few anonymously contributed examples of the safety threat that results from the gravel.

   “My son (4 years old)and I had a mishap one time due to the gravel on the playground. We were a little late for school so we were running across the play ground holding hands.  When we got to the part where the pavement meets the gravel, my son slipped on the gravel and fell. I nearly stepped on his head.  Luckily, I managed to avoid that but did step on his pinky finger and he got a cut.” 

   “I can't recall an outing to Teller's playground that did not involve at least one child slipping and/or hurting him or herself. To tell a child that he or she should not run on the play ground for fear of slipping on that darn pea gravel is simply wrong. Not run on a playground?  What kind of a rule is that?!”

   “My child has had two injuries because of the playground surface (the pebbles).  In one case, she slipped on the black rubber surface of the playscape because there were rocks on it, and slid into a pole on which she split her chin, requiring a visit to urgent care.  On a separate occasion, she slipped on some stones that had made their way to the blacktop and scraped up her knee.  Though no stitches were required, there will most definitely be a scar.”

   “While supervising the children at recess I slipped on the gravel covered blacktop.  Although I did not fall, I did aggravate an existing condition to my knee and had to visit a doctor.  I also had to miss a day of work for recovery.   I often see children slip and fall as a result of unstable footing due to the gravel that covers the black top.”

   “My situation related to the gravel is a little more serious than a scrape from a slip. When my son was in kindergarten, he fell from the monkey bars and broke his arm.  At the time, the thought was that the amount of gravel on the ground below the monkey bars was not thick enough to break his fall.”

   In the two weeks since we sent our proposal via email we’ve had two additional incidents caused by the pea gravel.  

   Last week a child was taken to the emergency room at 1:00 a.m. in order to extract a piece of gravel (from Teller’s playground) which was lodged in her ear-canal.

   Another child slid and severely scraped the entire side of his face.  Luckily there was no concussion, but it is only a matter of time.

   There are these types of accidents almost daily.  It would take several adults sweeping unceasingly from the time the children arrived at school until they are done with after school play to keep the surface clear.  That solution is unrealistic.  Because injuries so often occur as a result of the pea gravel the children are not allowed to run during recess,which goes against nature and severely limits their ability to play and get out the energy they need to focus better in the classroom.  

2. There is a large opening in the gate that feeds straight onto the corner, and into the traffic on Garfield and 11^th .   

3. The lack of continuity between the play areas and school building creates another safety problem because it makes it difficult for teachers and parents to keep track of their children.  

4. As noted in the Teller Landscape Master Plan of 2004 (pp. 19-20), the “entry from the sidewalk on Garfield street is highly hazardous during the snow season.  There have been many accidents in the past where people have slipped in this area.”   

Usability and Variety:  The small, poorly-planned space also poses a serious problem in terms of usability and variety.  There is a large asphalt section between the building and playing field that is unusable as play space because it slants to a v-shape to provide drainage.  Also,as described in the Teller Landscape Master Plan of 2004, “the basketball court and the four square share the same area and only one out of the two can be played at a time.”  In addition, the only swings are located on the little kids’ playground and are sized for smaller children, which, makes them hard for the older kids to enjoy,further limiting the activities available during recess and after school.

Limited Space and Increasing Enrollment

The problems with our small space and poorly planned play areas have been compounded by increased enrollment.  Since the completion of our plan in 2004 our enrollment has increased from 225 to 387 (p. 9).  In the 2004 plan,when there were 162 fewer children, our “southern playground” was described as “overcrowded resulting in turf damage and increased wear” (p. 12).  With the increased number of children using an already small and unsafe space, with limited activity choices, the inevitable result is continued and worsening overcrowding and wear,more restrictive measures that limit our children’s ability to getthe physical activity they need and the potential for a significant increase in injuries.

Teller Parents’ Involvement in Promoting 3A

Teller parents were motivated by the promise of our new Learning Landscape.  We were extremely involved in and worked very hard to see that 3A would pass with the understanding that we would be receiving a new, safer and more functional playground.  We were one of the few schools that attended the meetings.  We made it a priority and pushed from early October through the election in November to insure that the word got out.  We distributed signs, not only to our parent body, but throughout our neighborhood by knocking on doors and targeting homeson the busier streets.  We expanded that effort through our choice families who talked to their neighbors and put up signs in their home neighborhoods.

Teller Has a Completed Design Plan

Teller was slated to receive the Learning Landscape in 2006.  Teller parents, staff and children worked very hard in conjunction with DPS and the Learning Landscape Graduate Student assigned to the project beginning in 2003. The planning took the better part of a year.  The waiting continued,with the understanding that the Landscape would be put in with another bond issue that would be voted on in 2006.  However, after three years of working and waiting the bond measure was killed in favor of the comprehensive preschool initiative. Once again we were asked to wait.  Teller has waited with a completed plan for going on seven years, only to be pushed to the end of the schedule once again. Please do not ask us to wait…again.

Teller’s Parentsare Involved and Committed

We have an extremely committed and active community that would be willing to put in time and effort throughout the process, to help in anyway we are allowed,to ease the cost and burden on DPS.  We can guarantee that parents would be more than willing to wear hard hats and wield shovels to get that gravel out.  They would be excited by the process of community participation in planting and helping to maintain planted beds as well as using that space for school and community activities. (see attached signatures).

Teller Has Been Penalized for Academic Improvement and Increased Enrollment

We understand the need to serve all kids within the DPS system.  It is very important to address those in under-served neighborhoods.  However, we feel it is counter productive and financially irresponsible to put Learning Landscapes into schools with extremely low enrollment and performance, because of the risk of closure.  When the last bond issue was passed, there were several schools, including Wyman and Hallet Elementary,  that received their Learning Landscapes and then were closed.  In the past several years Teller has become a high performing school and, as a result, the neighborhood has returned and the demographics have changed.  The efforts by parents, teachers and staff to improve our school and increase our enrollment has,evidently, pushed Teller down the list in terms of priority for theLearning Landscape.  In effect, we have been penalized for improving. That doesn’t seem like good policy.  

Teachers’ Curriculum Ideas for our Learning Landscape

On a positive note, the teachers at Teller would use the Learning Landscape as an integral part of their day.  We already have teachers who have come up with ideas about how to create curricula around our existing playground plan, which is based on Machu Pichu because of the large amounts of sunlight the space receives.  

Michelle Lang—Kindergarten:  In kindergarten, we learn about how the sun gives light energy. One way we would use the Learning Landscape is to see what the sun is illuminating at different times throughout the day, and whether or not that specific portion of the landscape captures the sunlight energy.

Mara Gras – Kindergarten:  How does the sun affect water evaporation?  Fill containers of water place them indifferent spots on the playground that have different sun exposures. Chart how long it takes to evaporate in the different positions.  Add polymers to the different locations and show how polymers could help conserve water.

Elizabeth Hernandez-Ball--First Grade:  The landscape could be a launching point for an integrated unit on Peru using science,geography, language arts.  This could be incorporated into our first grade Social Studies curriculum also as an extension study of communities.  We could study communities around the world starting with our South American neighbor, Peru.

Annie Witwer, 3^rd Grade Literacy: Experiential Poetry--the class spends 10 minutes outside.  Each child chooses a spot where they can feel the sun.  They think of words to describe what the sun feels like on their skin.  In the classroom they create an individual or collaborative poem.  Do the same on a day when the sun is blocked by clouds. How does this affect what they feel?  Think of descriptive words and create individual or collaborative poem.  The kids could also create stories about what life would be like in Denver without the sun.

Anne Fisher – 3^rd grade :  Groupsof 3-5 kids form the solar system.  They learn how the planets sit in relation to one another and how they rotate around the sun through their own movement.

Katy Sackett – 4^th Grade :  My class can use the learning landscape for writing ideas during poetry writing and reading units.  They can sit on the playground and use their sensory images to create metaphors and similes.  We can also use the landscape for math and utilize the playground for measuring purposes, data collection, and creating graphs based on the measurement data.  The landscape can also be used for science,social studies, and service learning to demonstrate why Machu Piccu became an extinct colony due to drought and how the areas of sunlight effect evaporation and cause the drought.  

Serving Our Larger Community

We live in an urban environment where children have limited access to safe outdoor play. If these improvements were made it would serve not only our school,but the kids who live in the apartments up and down Colorado Blvd who have no yards and limited access to safe and appropriate outdoor open space.  The Learning Landscape at Teller is a better option for those children than the public parks in the area, as the equipment at those parks is limited and not varied enough in size to meet the needs of a variety of ages.  Additionally, neighborhood children currently have to cross busy streets, such as Colorado Boulevard and 17^thAve., to access age-appropriate playground equipment at public parks. The Learning Landscape at Teller would be within safe, easy walking distance.  

We Can Make Cost Adjustments

If our placement has more to do with cost than anything else, we can alter the existing plan to be more cost effective, looking at using more cost-effective materials and changing elements that would be excessively expensive. If we have to, we can look at phasing—first addressing the safety issues.  We are also in the process of searching for grants,donations of services and volunteer time to help ease the financial burden.

Thank you for the opportunity to explain why Teller deserves to have a higher priority to receive the Learning Landscape.  We hope you will seriously consider moving Teller from 2012 to 2010.