A new public playground will open its doors to the Pagosa community this Friday, September 26 at Pagosa Peak Open School in Aspen Village, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, food, music, games, and a ‘Fall Festival’ organized by the school.
The whole Archuleta County community is invited to join in the festivities from 4-6pm.
The “Playground for the People” has been under construction since March and completed its final touches earlier this month, and passed the required state inspection. The playground is used by the students during school hours, but following the Friday celebration, will be open to the general public after school hours and on weekends.
Pagosa Peak Open School, also known as PPOS, is a district-authorized tuition-free charter school — tax-funded and open to all Archuleta County families. It currently serves about 128 students in grades K-8 using a ‘Project Based Learning’ educational model, complemented by a focus on place-based studies and a ‘Restorative Practices’ approach to social interactions.
The innovative school opened in 2017 in the former Parelli Natural Horsemanship offices near Walmart, and ultimately purchased the building with help from USDA Rural Development, Region 9 Economic Development District, the Colorado Department of Local Affairs and the Town of Pagosa Springs. The 3-acre property didn’t have a playground, so parents, staff and community volunteers converted a sloping yard into a makeshift playground. Then in 2022, school parents Elly Osmera and Cady Allione applied for, and received, two grants from the Colorado Health Foundation to build the ‘Playground for the People’. The Archuleta Board of County Commissioners also provided a grant, bringing the total funding to about $800,000.
Ms. Allione recalled the community-based planning process.
“Our group met every month , for a year, during which we engaged in what was called ‘Equity-centered Community Design’. The premise was to give value and voice to voices that are not always heard in big projects like this. The Health Foundation told us, ‘We don’t actually care what project you build, because if you do this process, whatever you make will be exactly what your community needs’.
“We were given the directive to make sure there was child care at every meeting, and to make sure there was food. And that was how we spent a portion of our planning budget.
“And one of the things that was, I think, the most beautiful, was eating together, because everybody came from different places, and some had kids, and it was just a moment where we were all sharing stories of our day and connecting and having that experience of ‘human-ness’ all together.”
The design is unique: including multiple levels and hills, embankment slides, boulders, a sand pit and a “cliff rider.” It will be the Town’s only playground that is not foundationally flat — giving it an intriguing look and design.
The community planning group worked alongside Pagosa architect Courtney King; Kerry White at Urban Play Studios in Denver; the PPOS school staff, and Mike Davis at Davis Engineering. David Pribble with PSA Consulting has been the team’s project manager along the way. Together the team looked for beautiful, fun and unusual playground pieces as well as native landscaping for the space.
In addition to opening its new playground, PPOS is also expanding its after-school programming, with a drama club run by PPOS Advisor Alison Beach, and an orchestra club organized by Stillwater Music Company and local music teacher Payton McIntyre.
“These new programs allow for further enrichment for our students,” said School Director Emily Murphy. “Students now have opportunities to not only stay for an arts and crafts club and Forge programming, but also additional high quality programs to expand their education.”
PPOS continues to evolve its educational philosophy. The school originally opened with a ‘mixed-age classrooms’ model — for budgetary and philosophical reasons — but this year it established stand-alone grades for grades K-6, and pulled fifth grade into their elementary model as a stand-alone classroom. While mixed-age experiences still exist through the school’s project-based learning model, single grade classrooms allow for teachers to focus on the Colorado State Standards that align with their grade level.
The school has also added four new lead teachers, and has expanded the number of classrooms.
“It has been wonderful to watch our newest PPOS educators teach students with love, nurture and support while creating their classroom families,” said PPOS Instructional Coach Maggie Saunders. “As an instructional coach, I hope to do the same for our teachers by helping to guide and scaffold them as they grow as educators this year.”
Families are excited for the new year, too.
“We’re so excited,” said Jessica Cox, a PPOS parent with students in second and fourth grade. “This year is bringing new adventures that the kids get to do with new and old friends. They are especially excited about all the fun they’re having on the new playground, the projects they get to work on in groups – and on their own – and all the upcoming fieldwork opportunities.”
Please join PPOS on Friday for the ‘Fall Festival’.
Pagosa Peak Open School is a free, K-8 district charter school focused on implementing a project-based learning (PBL) curriculum in a Restorative Practices environment. Spots for students are still available in some grades. To learn more about PPOS, become a donor, and to enroll your student for the 2025-26 school year, visit pagosapeakopenschool.org.
Emily Murphy is School Director at Pagosa Peak Open School, the first District-authorized charter school in Archuleta County. Prior to her appointment as School Director, Emily filled various roles at PPOS including Project-Based Learning advisor, instructional coach, and assistant director.