The front lot at Somerville’s John F. Kennedy School is set to be renovated in the spring of 2026 after pleas from community members to take action.
The front lot, often likened to a prison yard by parents due to its lack of play equipment and cracked blacktop, is the only play space serving children in grades 3-8 at the Kennedy, at 5 Cherry St. in Spring Hill near Porter Square. Its “Tot Lot” has playground equipment but is reserved for children in pre-K through second grade; the layout has resulted in what parents describe as a dreaded “Tot Lot graduation” into the third grade.
After outcry at a Nov. 14 meeting of the City Council about the lack of action since a design grant was awarded in 2019, director of public space and urban forestry Luisa Oliveira said work had been delayed by the Covid pandemic but work was underway on a request for proposals for bids on the work.
After 10 weeks of silence, that document was posted to Somervoice, a platform for following and engaging with citywide projects, with a decision expected Wednesday. An update Thursday said the five proposals received are still undergoing review, with a contract commencement date set for March 24.
Parents and advocates who have called out the lack of play space in Somerville accessible for kids with disabilities were delighted by the call of the RFP for a “schoolyard site design approach that produces creative and beautiful play spaces that promote inclusive, imaginative and healthy play. This playground will be Somerville’s first inclusive playground.”
Perfect for a “universal playground”
The Kennedy playground redesign was considered the perfect place a “universal playground” because the school, home to roughly 400 students, hosts programs for students with additional needs, including the Social Education Enhancement at Kennedy and Specialized Kennedy Intensive Program. A Somerville participatory budgeting map of projects proposed by the public shows a hot spot at the school. “Please make a universal playground,” one bubble reads. “Somerville doesn’t have one.”
One advocate for more universally accessible playgrounds is Nicole Cannon, the mother of a 4-year-old girl who has a disability and a member of the Somerville Special Education Parents Advisory Council. Cannon is cautiously optimistic about the progress made and the idea that she won’t have to keep trekking to Cambridge’s Danehy Park or Brookline’s Cypress Street playground – both universally accessible.
“I’m really energized. It is encouraging to see the city, not just for the playgrounds but education-wise, show commitment to people with disabilities in the face of what’s happening on a federal level. It’s encouraging to see this momentum,” said Cannon in an interview with Cambridge Day. On Monday the School Committee passed a resolution in support of people with disabilities in response to threats from the Trump administration to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education as well as an executive order to establish a “Make America Healthy Again” commission with potentially ominous notes about the rising rates of ADHD and autism in children.
Rallying parents
Cannon worries that other parents may oppose a playground they think will hold back able-bodied children from reaching their full play potential. “Inclusive playgrounds are really unique,” Cannon said. “They almost require more creativity.”
To combat misconceptions around inclusive play, Cannon – the parent advisory council’s programs and activities coordinator – has organized an April 5 playdate at the universally accessible playground at Danehy Park. The goal: “Getting the parents there and having them see their kids play alongside kids that have mobility [limitations] and be like, oh, this isn’t taking away from my kid. It just enables kids to play together,” Cannon said.
Kat Johnston, a Kennedy parent who helped spark action in November, hosted a table Thursday during parent-teacher conferences to raise awareness of progress and rally excitement for what is to come. “It felt important to let families know that the entire front of the school is part of the design process and it’s an opportunity to dream big,” Johnston said.
Johnston is collaborating with city departments to host a front lot beautification day in May, bringing community members together to revamp the lot temporarily. She has teamed up with the Somerville High School carpentry department on accessible seating and with art teacher Chelsea Van Tassell to showcase student art on fences around the lot. Johnston also hopes to have the blacktop repainted and to create a garden with materials donated by the community.
Next for the project
A formal community engagement process for the playground will kick off in April or May, project manager Jon Bronenkant said. Six community meetings were stipulated in the RFP – the first two to collect community feedback, another pair to present three design options and final meetings in the fall to announce construction plans and timelines. While the engagement process could be longer, the six-meeting plan is well short of a 13-meeting maximum, Oliveira said, because there was concern from community members about the city dragging out processes with too much community engagement.
The project budget is estimated to be $3.5 million, starting with the $65,000 awarded in 2019 for design coming from city community preservation funds; the rest of the money is not yet secured. Funds for park projects generally comes from a combination of city, state and federal funds.
“I do have some concerns about the national political landscape and how that could impact construction costs and funding,” Johnston said.
She shouldn’t worry, Bronenkant said in an email to Cambridge Day. “It’s important to note that these projects are planned with contingencies in mind, and the city will explore other funding sources or adjust plans to minimize any impacts if such cuts occur,” Bronenkant said.
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