The Land is our 37-acre satellite campus in Oak Ridge. Just 20 minutes from our main campus in Greensboro, and is where our Junior High students apply what they’ve learned in the classroom in a real-world setting (i.e., using recent physics and history lessons to build a medieval trebuchet). Our Junior High students are currently researching and designing an outdoor cooking and eating area, which they hope to build this spring.

We are excited to announce our dream for North Beach: a 20-foot-tall, five-point rope climber by Berliner Seilfabrik. Berliner is the team who manufactured and designed the climbers at the Greensboro Children’s Museum. Our desired Berliner climber is specifically designed for interactive, child-directed outdoor play. Its center post structure and pagoda-like proportions invite children to explore in magical ways. The overall size and patented design offers the excitement of climbing high with plenty of space for many children to safely play together. If we hit our fundraising goal, the Berliner climber will be the centerpiece of a reimagined North Beach play space, surrounded by new swing sets, two covered patios, terraced seating facing the Athletic Field, and more.

We aim to create better opportunities for children’s self-directed play in The Woods. Two new dry creek beds and bridges will be open-ended places for building forts, fairy houses, and dams; for creating and playing new games; and for sitting down for lunch with friends. A better storage system for loose parts (like branches, ropes, wood, and tarps) will empower students of all ages, in groups of any number, to construct forts never previously imagined. Finally, we’ll create a space for a “hammock village” by purchasing hammocks to use for mindfulness, play, and relaxation.

Downhill will become a lush, open space reserved for our Primary students to play age-appropriate games and sports. It will also become a venue for outdoor learning experiences, gatherings, and explorations. We will continue to improve landscaping and drainage, purchase picnic tables for the adjacent patio, and invest in creative activities such as wall easels.