Playground construction to begin at Village Oaks Elementary

NOVI — After nearly two years without a playground, children at Village Oaks Elementary School, 23333 Willowbrook Drive in Novi, will have a playground to use sometime this fall, according to an announcement from Novi Community School District Superintendent Ben Mainka.

The playground was torn down in November of 2020 while a large-scale construction project was adding four new kindergarten classrooms, and the district had planned to have a new playground installed by the 2021-22 school year. However, the project has been pushed back numerous times because the equipment was backordered due to the pandemic. As a result, the kids have not been able to have a proper outdoor recess.

The school’s Parent Teacher Association purchased a few pieces of equipment for the students to be able to use this past year. However, the equipment was not designed for long-term use and did not survive the school year.   

Priyanka Heintz, who is now entering the fifth grade, spoke at the July 14 Board of Education meeting. She said that she has not played on a playground at school since she was in second grade. She said that all the kids would do outside was walk around on the field and play tetherball. She said that the school got the tetherball in the spring and that it broke a few weeks before school was out.

“Kids have energy. They need to play and climb,” she told the board. “When they don’t have a playground, kids are bored. … Every school needs a playground.”

Her father, Matthew Heintz, said he came to the meeting to stress the importance of play behavior. Heintz, a veterinarian, said that he had conducted research on chimpanzees, which proved that there was a direct relationship between how much a chimpanzee played and when the chimpanzee achieved different physical and social milestones.

“Play has so many benefits, and at its core it provides a safe environment to get experience with different physical and social skills. Play provides an opportunity to practice for the unexpected, and this happens so much around the playground setting,” Heintz told the board.  “Play helps kids in so many other situations beyond the playground, beyond school and throughout life itself. You would not take away textbooks without having new textbooks in hand, and I hope you agree with me that not having a playground for this length of time is both unacceptable and disheartening when you realize the potential negative impacts that this is having on our children here at Village Oaks.”

Mainka said via letter on July 25 that the district will be working to get as much preparation done as possible ahead of the delivery of the playground equipment, which is scheduled to arrive Aug. 19. Prior to equipment delivery, the district will have received delivery of surfacing and other materials, mobilized contractor equipment, conducted site cleanup and restoration work, and completed work in areas that are not subject to damage from playground equipment and areas that can be protected while the equipment is installed. He said they will also continue work on basketball courts, site asphalt and concrete, and more.

“While it remains highly unlikely that the playground will be fully finished before the start of school, this plan will accelerate the overall timeline so that students will still be able to take advantage of the new space early in the (school) year,” Mainka said in a letter to Village Oaks families.