SALT worked with The School District of Philadelphia in collaboration with Mural Arts Restored Spaces Initiative to design and implement site improvements at Joseph Pennell Elementary School. Located in the Bellfield neighborhood, Pennell serves over 400 students in grades K-5. Mural Arts engaged the students in a multi-month process to develop stories about play and learning to identify where site improvements and specific types of programming could occur on the schoolyard. Funded by the William Penn Foundation, a key component of this project was to advance literacy and learning goals and promote playful learning in public schoolyards. The schoolyard concept “Circles of Creativity and Care” refers to wholeness, life cycles, and connections. Through vibrant color and playful geometry, the new schoolyard emphasizes the importance of embracing everyone in the community with compassion, while creating spaces for creativity, innovation. and stewardship. SALT’s schoolyard design organizes the site into six different program circles — the Story Circle, Learning Circles, Performance Circle, Sports Circle, Active Play Circle and Relaxation Circle — to foster a variety of activities and social spaces for children and adults.

Client: The School District of Philadelphia

Status: Construction Completed 2023

Collaborators: Mural Arts Restored Spaces Initiative