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Canterbury School Celebrates Opening of New Lower School Playground

Canterbury School officially celebrated the opening of its new Lower School playground Wednesday, September 9, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony bringing together students, school leaders, Founders and Founding Families, Trustees, and members of the Canterbury Foundation Board. 

The new playground at Canterbury's Covington Road Campus was designed to create an engaging, welcoming space where Lower School students can play, explore, build friendships, and connect with one another throughout the school day.

The new space also brings Canterbury a distinction few playgrounds in Indiana — or anywhere in the country — can claim: a double national designation for research-backed design and inclusive play.

Canterbury School has been named a National Demonstration Site for Play On!, meaning the school's new Lower School playground was built using a comprehensive, research-backed approach to playground design and physical activity programming designed to develop students physically, socially, and academically. The model is grounded in evidence-based research from third-party partners CORE (Center for Outreach, Research and Education), SHAPE America, and Western Michigan University.

Canterbury's new playground also received the designation of National Demonstration Site for Inclusion. An Inclusive Playground applies a comprehensive design philosophy by utilizing the 7 Principles of Inclusive Playground Design™ in an outdoor play environment where both physical and social inclusion can occur to the greatest extent possible.

These two distinctions are held by fewer than 80 schools nationally, and Canterbury is one of only a handful of locations in Indiana with both.

"At Canterbury, we believe some of the most important parts of childhood happen not just in the classroom but also beyond it as students play, imagine, take risks, and build relationships with one another," said Dr. Elly Maconochie, Associate Head of School, Director of Early Childhood & Lower School. "This beautiful new playground is an investment in those everyday experiences that help to build children’s muscles and minds. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who helped bring this space to life, and there is no better way to celebrate its opening than by watching our students make it their own."

Canterbury partnered with Sinclair Recreation on the playground project, working together to create a space designed around play, movement, exploration, and connection for the school's Lower School students.

"Canterbury School needs to be recognized for not accepting the status quo in choosing just any new playground. But instead designing a Play Environment that invites everyone, regardless of age or ability to have an equal opportunity to play independently while also facilitating social interaction with everyone, creating a healthy school community within the Canterbury Campus," said Ron Blake, GameTime MidWest Regional Manager. "This GameTime play environment was created utilizing research and turning it into practice to promote Inclusion and Physical Development under the guidelines of the National Demonstration Site Program, implementing the 7 Principles of Inclusive Playground Design and Youth Physical Activity through active play and encourages the developmental progression of skills through healthy movement by incorporating the six key elements of play: balancing, brachiating, climbing, sliding, spinning, and swinging."

The project also included important site preparation and demolition work completed by Weigand Construction, helping prepare the area for installation of the new playground.

Following the ribbon-cutting, Canterbury Lower School students were invited to immediately put the new space to use, filling the playground for an afternoon of play and enjoying popsicles provided by the Canterbury Parent Association.
The playground is the latest investment in Canterbury's Covington Road Campus and reflects the school's continued commitment to creating spaces that support the whole student experience.

The playground is the latest investment in Canterbury's Covington Road Campus and reflects the school's continued commitment to creating spaces that support the whole student experience.

 

A woman speaks at a podium to an audience of children and adults seated on chairs and the grass, with a brick building and playground in the background.
A woman speaks at a podium in front of a playground with an audience seated in chairs.
A group of people, many of them children in uniform, are gathered on a grassy lawn in front of a brick and tan school building.
A woman in a pink dress speaks at a podium to an audience seated on chairs, with a brick building in the background.
Children in school uniforms sit on a grassy lawn in front of a brick building.
Children in white shirts and dark skirts sit on the grass in the foreground, while a group of adults and more children stand in the background.
A woman speaks at a podium to an audience seated on chairs and a bench in front of a brick building.
A group of adults and children are gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony in front of a brick building, with playground equipment visible in the background.
A group of adults and children are gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony in front of a brick building with a playground in the background.
A young boy in the foreground gives a thumbs up while a group of children in white shirts sit on the grass in the background.
A group of people, including children, cut a blue ribbon in front of a brick building with a playground in the background.
Two young girls in school uniforms smile while holding popsicles in the foreground, with a crowd of people and a building in the background.
Children in school uniforms play on a merry-go-round in the foreground, while others swing and climb on playground equipment in the background, set against a backdrop of trees and a cloudy sky.
Two young boys stand atop a playground climbing structure in the foreground, while other children play on swings and slides in the background under a cloudy sky.
Children in school uniforms enjoy a playground with a slide in the foreground and trees and a building in the background.
A woman speaks at a podium in front of a playground, with an audience seated in chairs.
A young girl in a school uniform plays with a toy near a blue slide, while other children are visible in the background on a playground.