To: K497 and K429 Administration
open the Baltic St. schoolyard to the public during non-school hours
We, the undersigned residents and businesses in the neighborhoods surrounding K497 and K429 are calling on the administration of K497 and K429 to open their schoolyard to the public during non-school hours just as other area public school have done for years.
The public schoolyard at K497 and K429 offers unparalleled opportunities for gross motor and creative play. This safe and fun environment would be a tremendous resource and benefit for taxpayers and their children. We, the community, feel we are good neighbors to the school and hope that spirit of being good neighbors will prevail in having the school decide to give the neighborhood access.
Please open the schoolyard at K497 and K429 during non-school hours.
Why is this important?
The petition is to act on getting K497, the School for International Studies and K429, the Brooklyn School of Global Studies, to open their schoolyard to the public during non-school hours, just as other neighborhood schools do. The two public schools are located in the building at 284 Baltic Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
The neighborhood has been asking the schools to reopen their schoolyard to neighborhood children and families for more than five years - when it was just an asphalt lot. The schoolyard has since been remodeled for the second time and it offers tremendous opportunities for neighborhood residents to gather and play; the new artificial turfed field is unparalleled in the community as are the playground’s climbing apparatus and creative gross motor play opportunities presented by the stick forest and spinning areas. Offering the schoolyard to neighborhood residents outside of school hours is a great opportunity for the schools to give back to community families and businesses.
At least five public schools within the surrounding ten blocks open their schoolyards to the public during non-school hours following NYC Parks rules: PS 29, PS 32, PS 38, PS 261 and K519. The NYC Parks department even sponsors the Schoolyards to Playgrounds initiative which is making a concerted effort to improve schoolyards and make them accessible to the public. Ours is a reasonable request grounded in precedent.