Green Playces: Possibilities

There are nearly 23,000 students with special needs in Allegheny County public schools. In Pittsburgh Public Schools, 18% of students are enrolled in the Program for Students with Exceptionalities (PSE). Green Playces: Possibilities is a project spearheaded by Grounded to provide a dedicated outdoor space for children with special needs to play, experience nature, and feel included.

Possibilities is adapted from Grounded Strategies’ successful Green Playces Initiative, that to date has built eight outdoor classrooms and playspaces in areas of Allegheny County with high levels of vacancy. The pilot Possibilities space will be designed and built in close collaboration with PSE students, teachers, parents, and neighbors at Pittsburgh Classical Academy, a Pittsburgh Public School in the West End.

The Possibilities project is the product of two years of hard work and dedication by Joe Marren, a former Grounded Strategies intern through Carnegie Mellon University’s H J Heinz III College. Joe conceptualized Possibilities and brought it from idea to action.