SCRANTON — Another schoolyard in Scranton will get converted from an underused outdoor space into a vibrant school and neighborhood asset.
Officials and students participated in a ceremonial groundbreaking Thursday on a schoolyard improvement project at John G. Whittier Elementary School at 700 Orchard St. in South Side.
Superintendent of Scranton School District Erin Keating speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new playground at John G. Whittier Elementary School in Scranton Thursday, May 28, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Elizabeth Class-Maldonado, associate vice president and Pennsylvania state director for the Trust for Public Land, puts hard hats on students during the playground groundbreaking ceremony at John G. Whittier Elementary School in Scranton Thursday, May 28, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
John G. Whittier Elementary School Principal Andrea Musto speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new playground that will be installed in the back of the school in Scranton Thursday, May 28, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Superintendent of Scranton School District Erin Keating speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new playground at John G. Whittier Elementary School in Scranton Thursday, May 28, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
“Today, we mark the start of construction of a reimagined playground for Whittier, one where students and neighbors can play safely and connect with nature and each other,” Whittier Principal Andrea Musto said.
The project is similar to one completed last year at the John F. Kennedy Elementary School at 2200 Prospect Ave., also in South Side. Both projects involve a collaboration of the school district, city and two nonprofits, the Trust for Public Land and Valley in Motion.
Like the Kennedy schoolyard project, the Whittier schoolyard, which is behind the school and between Galvin Place and Hemlock Street, had pupil involvement in design concepts and also, when completed, would be open to the public after school hours.
Whittier fourth-graders who helped design the new schoolyard also attended the groundbreaking and were applauded for their effort. They will graduate from the school next week.
“We’re so proud that these projects include you guys putting your own brains behind this, your own creativity, and I personally cannot wait see what you guys came up with,” Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti told the children. “You did a great thing for your fellow students.”
Valley in Motion Project Manager Alyssa Kelley and Trust for Public Land Pennsylvania State Director Elizabeth Class-Maldonado noted the project goes back two years. In formulating their ideas for an improved schoolyard, the children had to consider the needs of both students and the community.
“When these fourth graders were in second grade, we spent a few months together learning about how to design a community schoolyard that’s responsive to its community,” Kelley said. “This schoolyard is the manifestation of their own ideas, their desires for play, for creativity, for rest; their consideration of their fellow students, their younger siblings and their neighbors, and their understanding of the environment and our shared responsibilities for its health and stewardship.
The project involves new inclusive play equipment, embankment slide and boulder scrambles, a multipurpose turf field, a running/walking track, picnic tables and benches, new trees and native perennials, a rain garden and outdoor classroom and green stormwater infrastructures.
Whittier pupil Rocco Baresse said Whittier needs a new playground because the school does not have organized games or activities during recess.
“One thing I think everyone will like is having this new place to play with their friends,” Rocco said. “Whittier will enjoy the playground for many years.”
Scranton School District Superintendent Erin Keating, Ed.D., also spoke of outdoor playtime as a key component of education and growing up with social interaction.
“In a world right now that’s dominated by technology and screen time and time that’s not spent outside, to create an environment where kids are social and interactive and in a world where they’re outside and engage with one another is such a tremendous step in the right direction in things that we need to kind of deal with just where society is as a whole right now,” Keating said. “These playgrounds are just unbelievable opportunities to give our kids that chance to have that time to just be kids. And that’s one of the most important things we could do in teaching those lessons in socialization and teaching those lessons in how to interact and just play with each other and be imaginative.”
Construction is expected to start in early June and the goal is to have the schoolyard completed this summer.
“This playground is going to allow us to continue to grow, thrive and most importantly have a safe space to play with our friends,” Musto said. “So many great Wildcat memories are going to happen here and I can’t wait to be a part of them with you. What a great day it is to be a Wildcat.”