8 DECEMBER 7, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Help a Ridgewood elementary school get a brand-new playground for their students
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
EDAVENPORT@QNS.COM / @QNS
A Ridgewood elementary school
is asking for the community’s
help in getting a brand-new
space for their students to play.
P.S. 290, also known as A.C.E. Academy
for Scholars, currently serves more
than 500 students from pre-K through
fi ft h grade. When their new school
building was constructed in 2014, the
layout only included a playground for
the pre-K students, leaving the rest of
the students without a place to play.
P.S. 290 has set up a GoFundMe page
to raise the funds necessary to purchase
an Imagination Playground starter kit,
playground equipment system that
help transform a space into a space that
is not only fun, but encourages learning,
social development and movement.
“Using Imagination Playground
blocks, kids build a new world every day,”
wrote Katarzyna Okula, PTA president
at P.S. 290, on the campaign page. “They
make new dramatic scenarios, settings,
and games to play. Most important,
they make the rules. Because Imagination
Playground is child-directed
and open-ended, it encourages self-expression
through deep, joyful play.”
The playground would be placed in
the school’s front lot. Due to the portability
of the Imagination Playground,
the school plans to use the equipment
inside during the cold winter months.
So far, the community has raised
$1,555 of their $6,000 goal through
the GoFundMe campaign. To donate,
visit www.gofundme.com/
PS290QPTA.
Wearing Orange to fi ght kidney disease in Ridgewood
The children of St. Matthias Catholic Academy’s fi ft h-grade class recently raised more than $1,000 for the American
Kidney Foundation with a special fundraiser. All of the children came to school wearing orange, the
foundation’s offi cial color.
Photo courtesy of Angie Rotondo/St. Matthias Catholic Academy
