Playground Dedication

Waiting to play! Sunday, May 11, 2003, the Presbyterian Nursery School, located in the Presbyterian Church, 335 Cambridge Street, Burlington, dedicated its new playground to the teachers and students - those past, present and future. Reverend Rod MacDonald, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church and James McIninch, Presbyterian Nursery School Board Chair, led the festivities as the children played in the background, enjoying their new playground. The Presbyterian Church had been raising money to improve the church building itself and the Nursery School wanted to find a way to help. The Nursery school had put aside some funds for a capital improvement project many years ago, but had not yet funded a project. Heather Dinsmore, School Treasurer, and Presbyterian Nursery School alumni, as well as a church member, suggested an improvement project with the play area. After researching some playground facilities in other towns and schools, she contacted the Burlington Recreation Department who recommended M.E. O'Brien and Sons of Medfield, MA, who designed Simonds Park play structure. Construction began as soon as the students got out of school in May 2002 and the playground was completed in October 2002. The playground was designed for children ages 3 - 5 and consists of a multi-level play structure with alphabet and number panels, a store panel and house panels for creative play, three slides, a talk tube, curved balance beam, spring see saw, a basketball net, and an open space for free play with hoola hoops and other outdoor equipment. The fence was redesigned and made a foot taller, gutters were added to the building to decrease wet conditions, and the surface of the play area was covered with soft tiles for increased safety for the children and to eliminate harmful debris and muddy conditions with an added benefit of lower maintenance. In addition, two benches were added, each with a plaque one honoring the school teachers, past, present and future, and one honoring Jennifer Dewar, the Nursery School Board Chair and former teacher, who gave much of her time to the school for over 15 years. The Presbyterian Nursery School has been an established and well regarded pre-school in the Burlington area for over 30 years. In 1969, the Presbyterian Church of Burlington founded The Presbyterian Kindergarten as a non-sectarian, non-profit, interracial program to prepare kindergarten-age children for elementary school. With the inclusion of a kindergarten program in the public schools, the program was restructured as a nursery school and was renamed The Presbyterian Nursery School. The program provides a half-day nursery school that creates a secure environment in which nursery school aged children will be enabled to learn the social and intellectual skills appropriate to their ages and abilities. The program is designed to meet the growth and developmental needs of the students in preparation for public school. The children of both the Nursery School and the church are enjoying their new playground, nourishing their minds, bodies and spirits. The community at large is welcome to stop by and try out the facilities Monday through Saturday 8 am - 5 pm. The Presbyterian Nursery School has some openings for September, for more information please call the school at 781-272-0081. The view of the playground from inside the church