School Description
Holm Elementary School is located in southeast Denver, adjacent to Hamilton Middle School. Presently we serve 483 students from Early Childhood Education (4 years old) through fifth grade. Class sizes range from 20 in primary to 27 in intermediate with 3 to 4 classes at each grade level. We have continued to expand our commitment to second language learners with the addition of ELA-S(Spanish Language) classes in grades ECE- 5. English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes are also available in all grades. Holm School students continue to benefit from a diverse curriculum that includes vocal music, visual arts, physical education, and gifted and talented instruction. A literature based language arts program that includes 3 hours of literacy instruction is the center of daily instruction. This program includes daily reading of high quality literature, small group and individual instruction and specific skills development. There is also a school-wide math instructional program with a curricular emphasis on concepts, rather than just computational strategies that is closely aligned to Colorado instructional standards and CSAP.
Learning Landscapes Description
Colorado ecosystems was inspiration for a dry creek drainage, low-grow low-mow grasslands, a wildlife area, and native gardens.
Holm Elementary School
Construction Date
August 2006
Landscape Architect
Davis Partnership
Play Equipment Vendor
Play World Systems
Master Plan
Vision
In a neighborhood of interconnected parks and playgrounds, Holm Elementary’s Learning Landscape will strive to strengthen these connections and be a key focal point within the neighborhood. For the school community this will be a place where students and school staff play and gather during and after school hours and where the integration of the natural environment can bring the class room outside as part of this new built environment.
Goals
- To create a place where the community will want to use, gather and play at.
- To create a playground that facilitates learning outside of the classroom.
- To improve the overall safety and aesthetics and cohesiveness of the playground.
Design Development
Construction Documentation
Description from Architect
Located in southeast Denver, Holm Elementary opened in 1974 on a 6 acre parcel in a residential neighborhood. Site improvements for the Learning Landscape were concentrated on the 4.5 acre open space west of the building. The expansive playground had outdated equipment, few trees and almost no useable turf areas. Its usefulness was further challenged by limited maintenance and budget constraints. Play was compromised on the site by steep slopes, severe erosion and inaccessible areas.
Based on a UCD graduate student’s Master Plan, the Learning Landscape design reorganizes the playground and divides it into accessible play spaces. It takes advantage of the sloping site to improve accessibility by terracing the play pits, utililizing the slope for an amphitheater, defining field areas and subdividing open space into planting zones that reflect the varied growing conditions in Colorado.
The public entrance to the playground is marked by a single steel arc gateway. A dramatic arced shade structure frames an expansive view of the Front Range and marks the path from the school to the playing fields below. A long flowing walk curves around the play pits and down the slope to provide an accessible path to the amphitheater and the fields.
Extensive use of planted berms and drainages swales channel storm water to reduce erosion and increase the usefulness of the play fields. Native and drought tolerant plants conserve water use while creating a park-like setting for the school and an improved neighborhood amenity.
Illustrative Plan
Construction Drawings
Play Equipment
Shade Structure