Preschool Promise specializes in childcare programs in Dayton and with its Elevate initiative, it has invested $900,000 in the city’s programs, enhancing 14 early-learning centers like Rainbow Years.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
The PNC Foundation, SHP, the city of Dayton and Grunder Landscaping partnered with Preschool Promise on the new playground, donating funding and labor.
Ashley Marshall, senior director of operations at Preschool Promise, said SHP, an architecture, design and engineering firm, collaborated with Rainbow Years’ educators. She said SHP assisted with plumbing, HVAC systems and ensuring accessibility for children who may be in wheelchairs.
“We are deeply grateful to the PNC Foundation, the city of Dayton and Grunder Landscaping Co. for making this dream a reality,” Jama Harden, owner and administrator of Rainbow Years said in a press release.
David Melin, PNC regional president for Dayton, said PNC sees value in Dayton as a community and investing in early childhood education.
“We’ve been doing early childhood education for over 15 years in this community,” Melin said. “This is just another example of where we can invest back in the community, invest in the teachers and these kids so they can learn and develop and grow, and do it in a fun outdoor environment.”
Marshall said all partners had “skin in the game” to “provide this kind of milestone, outdoor learning-lab [and] high quality playground.”
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Seth Pflum, president and COO of Grunder Landscaping Co., commended Rainbow Years’ investment in early childhood education.
“We’re just a big believer in service to our client, service to our community and service to our team,” Pflum said.
He noted the collaborative design process of the multitextured playscape, bringing the outdoors into the playground while repurposing materials.
“We had to stretch as part of the design team, we harvested honeysuckle from someone’s yard and repurposed it for the railings and the fence. The same with the logs, they came out of a client’s property that we treated,” Pflum said.
Grunder also donated a greenhouse that is located near the learning lab.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
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