Grounds and Beautification Committee Report 2010

Dear Keller Families,

During the last few years the G&B Committee has worked to improve the entirety of the grounds at Helen Keller Elementary. We hope you will take a few minutes to read about all of the good things that have been accomplished by our parents and the school district.  

G&B Mission Statement:

To respect our neighborhood and the Helen Keller community by creating and maintaining school grounds that are neat, clean and beautiful in which to live, work and learn.

Motivation:

We all want our children to thrive in an environment that is respectful, inspiring and well maintained. Thus, it is important that we keep our school grounds beautiful. Did you know that the school district is responsible for mowing lawns but it is parent volunteers that beautify the grounds with landscaping and maintenance? This is the reason PTAs created G&B committees.

School buildings are public property. No one wants to live next to a house or building with an unkempt lawn. It can lower the value of nearby properties. We help our private property values when we take care of what we own collectively. Right or wrong, many people judge the success of a school based on its outward appearance.

Nice lawns and flowers serve as an open invitation to prospective homebuyers and parents, hopeful in their search for a great school in a wonderful neighborhood. G&B has invested in change that we believe will improve our children’s education and returns in the form of an improved neighborhood and more parents choosing Keller. When we invest in the care of the school grounds, we get a return on our investment.  

Kindergarten Courtyard

This space, adjacent to the kindergarten classroom, is now a beautiful play area for our youngest students. It features a sandbox ringed around a tree, three shade gardens, a paver patio with a wheelchair accessible entrance ramp, and a small lawn with a bench and safety gate. The kids love it! Please stop by for a look.

New Front Lawn

This daunting task involved removing over three dozen overgrown evergreens, pulling weeds, spreading 20 yards of topsoil and growing grass from seed. We thank the Royal Oak School Maintenance Dept. and the City of Royal Oak Parks and Recreation Dept. for helping to make this a success.

Front Entrance Landscape

The simple park-like setting on either side of the main entrance makes the front entrance design the focal point of Keller. Two benches were given to us from Mark Twain Elementary. “Butterflies” magnolia trees along with dwarf burning bushes and perennials welcome our Keller community, while a walk into the entrance courtyard reveal both a sun and shade garden! Splashes of yellow, red, green and more are fitting bright colors at an elementary school. All designs are low maintenance for a quick and easy clean up.

Inner Pond Garden

The Inner Pond Garden will feature a new paver path that is wheelchair friendly with plenty of space for classrooms to enjoy. We replaced the broken pond pump and now the turtles and fish are back in style! All plants will adhere to our low maintenance rule while at the same time add color and fun to the gem of our school building.  

South Parking Lot Area

We dug up all of the gravel in the parking lot area and used that as the gravel paver base for our Inner Pond Garden paver path. We used dirt removed from the Inner Garden as a bed to spread a new “super” hybrid grass seed that will cover the entire south lawn. Thank you, students, for keeping off the grass while it grew! In addition, we thank our school maintenance department for moving the large cement planters from the front to the back of the school. It gives some color and life to what was a barren wall of cement.

Trash Enclosure and Exterior Doors

This new addition is a screen that hides the trash dumpsters. We had the enclosure placed further back to allow for more parking nearer the front entrance as well as to improve the traffic flow. Thanks to Superintendent Dr. Moline for allocating funds for this project. Custodians painted many of our exterior doors and instantly gave a fresher look to our building.  

New Landscaping Guidelines

The G&B team has worked with the Royal Oak School District and Principal Houghton to institute a set of rules for low maintenance landscaping. These rules will ensure that present and future projects will be beautiful and simple to maintain.

• Choose plants that are drought resistant, no/low debris, no/limited pruning.
• All plants must be noninvasive.
• Hardscape (pavers, stones, bricks, sidewalk, etc.) to separate all landscape design from grass so workers do not have to mow around plants or objects.
• Meet ADA Standards for all installations (ex. Wheelchair access at entrances, path width, turn around space, etc.) 

Volunteers

Thanks to all who worked so hard digging up gravel and dirt and hauling heavy wheelbarrows as well as laying bricks, planting, raking, watering and cleaning up. Thanks to all who gave money and raised funds. Special thanks to Robert Wagner of R.F.W. Contractors, Inc. for the generous donation, free delivery and major discount on the magnolia trees and dwarf burning bushes that now adorn our front entrance.

Join us. We look forward to hearing from you!

The Grounds and Beautification Committee Members

keelytyson@yahoo.com  or 248-591-0458

Chair, G&B Helen Keller PTA