Lusher plans new playground with zipline at Willow campus

Lusher Charter School's lower-school campus on Willow Street, where the old playground has been removed but an upgrade to the play equipment is planned in the spring. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)

They say good things come to those who wait: Elementary students at Lusher Charter School’s Willow Street campus started the school year without a playground, but the equipment slated to replace it this spring is expected to include a zip line.

“This delights me, because I want one, too,” said Patty Glaser, Lusher’s director of curriculum and development.

In June, the school was recommended to remove the aging equipment at Willow (18 years old, by Glaser’s estimate) for inspection. School officials found structural problems that could not be easily repaired, such as the slide pulling away from its supports. and chose not to to put it back up.

Instead, replacing the Willow campus playground was taken up by the Friends of Lusher, the fundraising arm of the school created last year. The first Friends of Lusher annual giving campaign raised $100,000, and this year’s goal is another $150,000 — part of which will be used to purchase the new equipment, in partnership with the school’s Parent Teacher Student Association.

To design the new equipment, school officials asked students to draw what they wanted to see, and label each important element, and a parent then tallied the results.The zipline was among the most popular items, Glaser said, along with a variety of slides, “spider-y” climbing structures, even a type of treehouse. Some of the pieces are more exercise-focused as well, Glaser said, offering the children repetitive activities that build strength.

The school has forwarded the children’s selections to several vendors, but have yet to choose one, so cost estimates are not yet available for the playground, Glaser said. The target date to complete the playground is March, when the school will have a KaBOOM-style community build that Glaser said will help lower costs.

“Plus, it’s such a great community day,” Glaser said.

Lusher also plans an update to the outdoor lunch area at its high school campus on Freret Street, where seating along the Joseph Street becomes a "muddy mess" whenever it rains, officials said. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)

The goal of the Friends of Lusher campaign is to choose projects that affect as many the school’s 1,700 students as possible, so school officials are also looking at improvements to the Fortier campus where the upper grades attend. School officials have asked a Lusher parents who is a landscape architect to create a plan for a “lunch terrace” on the Joseph Street side of campus near the cafeteria.

Several tables already sit in the area, but Glaser said shade from the large trees overhead makes it impossible for grass to grow underneath.

“When it rains, it’s an incredible mess,” she said.

Officials envision pavers and other material to create a type of floor space, as well as more benches to set up an area that could be used as an outdoor classroom, Glaser said.

While school supporters raise money for those projects, the board is awaiting word on the fate of much more substantial structural needs at both the Fortier and Willow campuses requested in the Orleans Parish facilities master plan. Lusher supporters and others argued forcefully during public meetings this summer that major needs at existing schools should not be left unaddressed while the school district builds new campuses to fulfill promises made after Hurricane Katrina, and after a chorus of good-goverment groups chimed in with their own concerns, district officials withdrew their plan for reconsideration.

“They listened and pulled it back in, and I’m very glad that they did,” Lusher CEO Kathy Riedlinger told the school’s governing board Saturday morning. “I’ll be even gladder if they come back with something for us.”

The board is also continuing to look for more space to accommodate students rising out of the new kindergarten classes being held for the second year at the Jewish Community Center.

To read a recap of our live coverage of Saturday’s meeting, click “Replay” in the box below.