News

Perry Schoolyard Wins BSLA Merit Award for Design
(April 25, 2012) -

Warner Larson, Inc.  has was won the Boston Society of Landscape Architects 2012 Merit Award in Design for Pre-K through 12 Education Facilities for their work on the Oliver Hazard Perry K-8 schoolyard. The Perry schoolyard was completed through the Boston Schoolyard Initiative in 2010.  Its innovative design was inspired by the school's seaside location and views of Boston Harbor. 

The Perry commmunity is putting its new schoolyard and Outdoor Classroom to great use, including becoming a BPS lab site for using the schoolyard to improve writing instruction.  Through a Department of Elementary and Secondary Education grant, a team of 3rd and 4th grade teachers from the Perry school are working with the BPS English Language Arts Department, Boston Schoolyard Initiative staff and teachers at the Conley School to learn how to integrate outdoor teaching into their instruction to help students write exlanations and arguments that include concrete details, evidence and precise language.

BSI congratulates David Warner and his team at Warner Larson and Perry Principal Amy Marx, her staff and the students of the Perry School for recognition of this special schoolyard.  The project will be showcased at the BSLA Gala on April 26.

The Boston Schoolyard Initiative is a public-private partnership between the City of Boston, Boston Public Schools and the Boston Schoolyard Funders Collaborative.  Together this partnership has completed projects on 81 schoolyards, transforming asphalt lots into dynamic centers for recreation, learning and community life.