SWAMPSCOTT — The proposed landscape design for the new Swampscott Elementary school will incorporate native plants, a soccer field, outdoor learning areas and an accessible playground.
In a community meeting held Thursday night, landscape architect Jade Cummings presented the preliminary design of the site’s outdoor amenities.
“At the end of the day, this project is about your community and it’s about the children,” Cummings said. “The most successful school projects are the projects that can accommodate both.”
The design, which is not yet finalized, would include a rain garden and an outdoor discovery lab that would integrate learning into the surrounding Ewing Woods. There would also be smaller outdoor areas near the front of the building that could be used for outdoor classes.
“Even though we don’t have a boatload of open space to work with, we can create these almost boutique, gem-like spaces where they can come out and enjoy outdoor class,” Cummings said. “We can have a butterfly house or a bird house or little ant-farm areas. How do we get these kids to really see and feel and experience their environment?”
Cummings said that the landscaping, including the rain garden, would include native plants that reflect Swampscott’s seaside environment. Leigh Sherwood, an architect on the project, said that using plants from the area is incredibly important for the surrounding ecosystem.
“If you have a tree and it’s from another place, two insects and one bird can live off that tree,” Sherwood said. “But if it’s from here, a thousand insects and birds can live off that tree, because it evolved here.”
In addition to the natural landscaping, the design includes an approximately 10,000 square-foot playground, which Cummings said can accommodate up to 200 students at a time. The playground design has not been planned yet, and could take many different forms, such as a more traditional structure or a wooden, “natural” playground. However, Cummings emphasized that the playground would be an accessible, “universal” design for all students.
Katie Tat, a physical therapist at the town’s elementary schools who attended the meeting, applauded this plan, saying that the playgrounds at the current schools are not appropriate for students with disabilities.
“When you have that universal design, every kid will play with all the elements,” she said of the new structure. “It will allow the children who have varying needs to make friends with their peers, because they can all play together instead of having their own little piece off to the side.”
The School Building Committee plans to create a subcommittee focused on choosing the design of the playground in the future.
The SBC will hold another virtual meeting on Tuesday night to discuss possible community uses for the new school building site.
Trea Lavery can be reached at [email protected].
