Opal School of Portland Children’s Museum is a private preschool (ages 3-6) and public charter elementary school (grades K-5). Opal School serves as a resource for teacher-research by supporting and provoking fresh thinking about learning environments that inspire playful inquiry, creativity, imagination and the wonder of learning in children and adults.  Learning Landscapes has had the pleasure of working with the Opal school as they redesign their playscape. The back door of the school opens into acres and acres of forests including Portland’s Hoyt Arboretum and Forest Park. But the steep area designated for daily play and physical education was heavily paved and uninspiring.

Opal School hired Learning Landscapes to design a playscape that reflected the schools missions, teaching style and vision for the future. Like most schools, the budget was set and construction needed to aim at a community-built and hands-on approach to achieve the schools grand vision. Learning Landscapes worked with Opal 3 students to develop a site plan, worked with City permitting officials and the local parks district to gain approval, helped with finding a contractor and facilitated volunteer construction of the design details.

Opal students can make potions in their covered ‘workshop’ and pick fresh ingredients from their picking garden, play soccer, build fairy gardens, plant and harvest real garden edibles, retreat to a quiet area for games and art, and build endless forts from loose parts. When a community works together with students at the heart of the project it is amazing what is possible.