LYNNFIELD — The Summer Street School is hoping to upgrade its Kindergarten, Preschool, and Differentiated Learning Program playground through fundraising spearheaded by the Summer Street School PTO.
“The Summer Street School Kindergarten, Preschool, and DLP playground to the right side of the school is more than 20 years old,” PTO President Sarah Kelley said. “It wasn’t renovated during the school expansion project, so it has always been an item that we’ve hoped to get updated through the Capitol Improvement Program in town.”
With budgets tight, Kelley and the PTO thought that combining forces with the Town and private and public partners could help get the ball rolling.
“We started off by working with the school directly and Principal (Karen) Cronin just to figure out if fundraising for this project and having it come to fruition in time for next year’s school year was feasible,” she said.
Kelley said the PTO has been speaking with the Town to determine which funds from the capital budget could be allocated to the project.
“There’s a proposal on the table that the Select Board needs to approve as far as the school’s budget per capitol for this project. We were hoping to fundraise for the difference of whatever that would be,” she said.
Kelley noted that they’ve received estimates from several playground equipment companies, and the project scope is around $200,000.
She also noted that the PTO has applied for two grants and that PTO Vice President Jenny Sheehan took the lead on the grant applications, as well as working on the design aspects with the preschool and kindergarten staff.
“She has been vital, and (I) wouldn’t want to leave her out of this story. It has been a really collaborative project between the Town and volunteers and all of our amazing school staff,” Kelley said.
Kelley expects to hear back about the grants in February or March, and the PTO has also had community members, both organizations and individuals, support the project.
She noted that the need to renovate the playground became a higher priority due to it being a space for the DLP.
“The Differentiated Learning Program was moved from Huckleberry over to Summer Street School, and it’s some of the highest needs in our Special Education Department. Now that it’s located at Summer Street, we need an enclosed, fenced-in playground with appropriate equipment for some of those younger learners,” she said.
The PTO is currently looking for businesses to help sponsor the initiative.
The PTO stated that, as a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit, any donations made are tax-deductible, and higher levels of sponsorship would come with recognition for the business on permanent signage that will be inside the new playground.
Sponsorships and donations of any size are “greatly appreciated,” and contributions can be made to Zeffy, Venmo @SSSPTO, which goes directly to PTO Treasurer Benjy Cooper, a check can be made out to Summer Street School PTO, and a bank wire transfer is available upon request.
“We would be honored to include you as a partner in this exciting project! Thank you for considering your support of the Summer Street School community, and for helping us create a space where all our children can learn, grow, and play,” the PTO stated.
