The parent advisory council for Ecole Ile Des Chenes School received a $25,000 grant from Community Places for playground upgrades.

Leanne O'keefe and Shireen Eastman are members of the playground committee. O'Keefe says they applied for the grant back in December. She says the money will go towards stage one of their playground improvements which include fixing drainage on their school yard.

"The drainage had to be corrected because there was a lot of standing water on the field. Recesses were often considered black top recesses were the kids weren't even allowed to go on to field at all to play during recess if there was a lot of rain because the water was pooling. It needed to be corrected."

O'Keefe says the second part of phase one is the addition of a limestone fitness path. She notes the R.M. Of Richot pitched in financially to make sure the trail was included in the project.

Limestone fitness path

"We are using the trail, not just for the school but it is also connecting different areas of the community because Ecole Ile Des Chenes School is central. It is a pathway from D'auteil Park as well as Gabriel Roy School. The community members can use the trail and walk around it as well as the kids at the school using it for gym class."

Shireen Eastman says the community has been very supportive of the upgrades and they are looking forward to having a better school playground. She notes after phase one is completed this summer they will start to raise money for phase two.

"Phase two we are going to look at replacing the asphalt hard top surfaces and then also expanding into our playground. Changing the base from this pea gravel to wood engineered fibre, making it more accessible for children as well as a new more innovative play structure in the corner area."

Eastman says phase two is very costly but they are hoping to have enough funding in five years.