Boston, MA—September 22, 2016—This year, we will bring safe and healthy play to more than 75 schools and 35,000 children throughout New England. We aim to dramatically expand both the current number of students enrolled in Playworks programs as well as to reach hundreds of thousands of children through free resources and training for schools over the next four years. We seek to reach 200,000 children in 400 elementary schools within New England by the end of 2020. This vision is part of a larger national movement to ensure 3.5 million kids in 7,000 elementary schools will experience safe and healthy play every day, allowing them to feel included, be active, and build life-long social and emotional skills.
Celebrating our tenth anniversary in the region, Playworks provides services for elementary schools and youth-serving organizations around the country. These services have helped students increase physical activity, deepen social and emotional learning, and develop conflict resolution skills on the playground every day—which has led to Playworks schools becoming safer and full of children who go back to class ready to learn.
In order to achieve our AIM vision, we plan to expand current coaching and training services and will also add new services, such as team-based online learning and strategic district support, to match the best programs for each school. With a mission to inspire all schools to embrace and advocate for play, we plan to provide free services to help bring the AIM vision to life.
According to a 2015 study published in the American Journal of Public Health, students who develop strong social and emotional skills are twice as likely to graduate from college and 46% more likely to have a full-time job by age 25 than their peers.
We invite you to learn more about our exciting new initiatives and to get in the game:
