Lower School students are getting ready to climb, zip and soar as GA’s new adventure-and-nature themed playground takes shape, complete with a mud kitchen, dual zip lines, rain gardens, looping bike tracks and treehouse towers designed for adventure and much more. The redesign marks one of the most significant updates to the campus since the Health and Wellness Center, transforming the outdoor space into a more imaginative, nature‑inspired environment for PreK through 5th grade.
Last spring, GA unveiled plans for a complete redesign of the Lower School playgrounds. After years of dreaming, planning and community collaboration, construction is now underway, bringing the vision for a more imaginative, nature‑inspired play environment for students in PreK through 5th grade.
“The playground has been on our wish list for over a decade,” Head of School Rich Schellhas said. “We knew that we needed better, more modern and fun playground equipment for students to be able to use on a regular basis.”
The new playgrounds will include two separate areas, one for PreK and Kindergarten and one for 1st through 5th grade.
The PreK/K space is designed to support imaginative, sensory‑rich play, including a Slide Tower Treehouse, basket swings, a looping track and a mud kitchen. The mud kitchen serves as a younger‑student version of the nature nook, giving the students a place to build, dig, experiment with natural materials and “get their hands dirty” in a safe, creative way.
“I am excited for the mud kitchen because we never had that before,” Lucía Knight Mesones ’38 said. “[Before,] we just played with the pots and pans outside.”
Her classmate is also looking forward to the new playground, but will also miss some aspects of the old playground.
“I am going to miss the old swings,” kindergartener William Lehman ’38 said, “[but] I am excited about the basket swing and steep slides.”
On the other hand, the 1st through 5th grade playscape will include dual zip lines, the long-awaited gaga pits, parkour climbing structures, an amphitheater and the Cliff Rider Treehouse.
These additions were chosen to support a wide range of play styles from quiet, independent exploration to high‑energy adventure. GA worked closely with Studio Ludo, a nonprofit playground architecture firm, to ensure that the design reflects how children of different ages learn, socialize and take healthy risks.
“I feel like the new outdoor stage is good because people can help each other learn to be on stage and to speak in front of other people,” Kira Nanavati ‘35 said.
Her brother is especially looking forward to the new action‑oriented features.
“I’m excited for the zip line, especially, but I’m also excited for the playground in general,” Ravi Nanavati ’33 said.
The project reflects a multi‑year design process that included student input through Design Days, which are hands-on workshops held several times a year in the Lower School, where students brainstorm, sketch and test ideas based on different themes. GA shared these student drawings directly with the architects, and several concepts, including climbing structures and zip‑line ideas, which influenced the final renderings.
In addition to the new equipment, the playground will also honor the memory of Matthew Whitehead. The space will be named for him, and a special feature is being designed to memorialize him.
“Matthew’s huge smile is the first thing I think of when picturing him,” Schellhas said. “Imagining the new playground, and associating his name with a place filled with joy, play and community feels like the perfect tribute to the spirit he brought to our school.”
As construction continues through the spring, excitement is building across the Lower School. The redesigned playgrounds will offer soaring opportunities for play, growth and countless adventures, giving students a runway for imagination.