Carl Cozier Elementary community celebrates opening of new playground

The back-to-school season offers opportunities for many new beginnings. At Carl Cozier Elementary, the start of the school year coincided with the opening of the school’s new playground for the community to enjoy. 

After a summer of construction, the new playground addition – funded by the community-supported 2022 bond – was completed and cleared for use on Monday, August 26, just in time for the school year. 

The Carl Cozier staff enthusiastically enjoyed the playground opening during a day of professional development and school year prep on Monday, testing out the equipment and envisioning the students enjoying the new features in the coming days.  

“The new playground addition is such an asset to our Carl Cozier Elementary community,” Principal Carissa Jangard said. “We have worked collaboratively with many stakeholders to improve the outdoor spaces on our school campus, ensuring that student voice was an integral part of the process.  We are proud that our students articulated and advocated for equipment that was inclusive for all students to play on and this playground is a big step.”

Students took quickly to the new playground upgrade during the first day of school on Thursday, August 29, forming a long line before school began to take turns on the merry-go-round feature and while also testing out the new swings and slide structure. 

“There is no comparison to the joy of a child on the playground,” Jangard said. “We’re thrilled our students can enjoy it throughout the school day, as well as for our community to experience during evenings and weekends.” 

The model for the new playground follows Bellingham Public Schools’ universal design for playgrounds, a set of guidelines for choosing new playground equipment and surfacing.  

Play spaces for elementary students are created intentionally and follow best practices. Knowing how vital play and physical activity are for healthy child development, getting the right playgrounds means focused attention and the development of a framework. 

This framework was built by the Playgrounds Standards Ad-Hoc Advisory Committee in the spring of 2021.