General Recreation Inc. in Newtown Square helped make improvements to the school yard at the John B Kelly School in Germantown possible.

A ribbon cutting for the new facilities took place Nov. 25 at the Philadelphia School District property. The improvement include plans for an outdoor classroom, writes Mike DeNardo for KYW Newsradio.

There are upgrades inside and out. On the day construction ended for the new state-of-the-art playground at the John B Kelly School yard, Principal Alia Dickerson told her students, “I told them, ‘Get ready. Recess today is going to be one like no other.’”

The new green-and-yellow play structure is behind the school, built on a soft surface that’s bouncier and safer than asphalt.

By springtime, Dickerson said, a grassy area behind the school will turn into an outdoor classroom where students can experience and connect with nature.

“We have the shade structure coming. We have benches. We have new trash cans that are coming just to really allow the different spaces where students can go,” Dickerson told KYW Newsradio. “It’ll allow students to explore and bring nature into the classroom.”

The school also showed off its new library.

Fundraising by Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, along with contributions from the state and the district covered the $350,000 price tag for the upgrades at Kelly.

General Recreation serves Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, and has helped hundreds of community leaders and organizations build playgrounds that are safe, aesthetically pleasing and made to last.

General Recreation projects are supported by expert services, including site evaluation, playground design, installation, and community build services.

Find out more about the work of General Recreation.