School was recently awarded to PrimeTime Sports Camp.
The Brentwood Green Board recently announced that PrimeTime Sports Camp has been awarded the management contract of the beloved community playground at Brentwood Science Magnet School.
After undergoing a public bid process, PrimeTime Sports Camp was selected to be the entity that helps provide supervision during non-school hours and hosts its own community programs as well.
The previous manager, the Westside YMCA, graciously served the community playground for several years up until the end of its joint-use contract in May.
It is a challenge to imagine the present aesthetic of the playground schemed up by non-profit Brentwood Green of Brentwood Magnet Science School as nothing but 11 acres of cracked asphalt in the back of a school yard.
It was less than 20 years ago in 1997 when the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) decided to repave the school’s asphalt after neighborhood objections to initial considerations about turning the plot of land into a Ralph’s market.
“The community came together and offered to help improve and maintain a new grass playing field and learning gardens, in exchange for being able to use the playground during non-school hours,” Brentwood Green Board member Dante Brown said.
LAUSD ultimately accepted this proposal.
The entire concept became more and more appealing to Jackie Raymond, one of the original founders of Brentwood Green, as well as community members and officials like former City Councilmember Cindy Miscikowski.
“It was great idea to decide to do something with that property,” Raymond said. This was especially true for a project like a neighborhood playground so that both students as well as the surrounding neighbors could reap the benefits of a “community-school park.”
Negotiations began with LAUSD in efforts to begin the process of renovating the asphalt and developing a community playground in its place. A couple of years after the initial proposal, a joint-use agreement between the school district and the Westside YMCA, the organization that would help manage and maintain the park during non-school hours, was signed with the common mission of managing the playground for both school and community use.
The community-school park would not only provide the surrounding Brentwood community with the convenience of a neighborhood playground, but would also provide the students of Brentwood Magnet Science School a much more appealing setting to learn, grow, and spend their days in.
“We wanted to add to the school experience,” Raymond, who is also a former LAUSD teacher, said.
It’s safe to say that the new additions to the Brentwood Magnet Science School certainly enhanced the school experience.
Coincidentally – and thankfully – the cost to place a green plain field on the school property did not cost any more than it did to simply repave the cracked asphalt. It only made sense to move forth with putting in a grass plain field.
Additional features like new playground equipment, a new Safran Family kindergarten yard, learning gardens, murals, and a recycled tire track were also implemented into the construction.
The city has recognized this impressive transformation as well. Brentwood Green was given an award from the Los Angeles Environmental Affairs Department for its recycled tire track.
“For more than a dozen years, the Westside YMCA, Coast Sports, AYSO, and others have offered youth programs for both students and local families,” Brentwood Green Board member Dante Brown said. “Thousands of school children have benefited from the presence of this playground.”
The collective efforts of the city, the school district, the Brentwood community, and the Brentwood Green Board are what hold full credit for the current state of the playground today.
From school district bond funds, to state government grants, to city and county grants, to private donations, and of course, plenty of community effort, countless hands and hearts have contributed to the renovation of what was once 11 acres of ugly asphalt.
The transformation of the plot of asphalt throughout the years is visibly remarkable; the property has gone through an impressive and extreme gray-to-green makeover.
With the contract between the Westside YMCA and LAUSD coming to an end in May, the playground was left without a manager during non-school hours.
The YMCA was previously responsible for subletting the playground to organizations like Coast Sports and AYSO as well as providing staff and supervision on weekends, during summers and school breaks, and after-school hours.
After the YMCA contract ended, LAUSD opened up the management contract for public bid in order to determine a new managerial entity.
The bids were narrowed down to Coast Sports and PrimeTime Sports Camp, which both host programs, camp, and/or workshops on school properties, with PrimeTime Sports Camp ultimately being awarded the contract.
What with the growing presence of the Brentwood Farmers’ Market on Sundays, the need for an active playground manager became more prominent.
What with minor, but inevitable problems like food remnants and other trash being left on the school grounds during the Farmers’ Market from visitors looking to eat and play, the safety and sanitation of Brentwood Science Magnet became an issue.
Along with the joint-use contract between PrimeTime Sports Camp and LAUSD, the Farmers’ Market has also entered into a contract with the school district. LAUSD staff will be providing supervision and custodial services.
Perhaps the best news is that the playground can now be open again on weekends. Part of the playground manager’s role encompasses continuing to partner with other community organizations like AYSO and Coast Sports, as well as Brentwood Green, to host events and keep the playground open as much as possible.
“PrimeTime Sports Camp, AYSO, and Coast Sports will continue to have programs open to the community to join,” Brown said. “The Westside YMCA will [also] continue to have programs at the Youth House on Bundy on Saturdays and Sundays. With community support to have LAUSD supervision, we hope to keep the gates open for play.”
On July 9, L.A. City Councilman Mike Bonin and LAUSD School Board member Steve Zimmer were the honored guests of a Brentwood Green tour hosted by the Brentwood Green Board members as well as other involved community leaders.
“The objective of the tour was to thank both Mr. Bonin and Mr. Zimmer for their support,” Brown said. “It was also a chance for us as a Brentwood community to show them the beautiful playground, murals, and learning gardens.”
Councilman Bonin spent his afternoon walking around the entirety of Brentwood Green, where he was able to gain firsthand insight of what the community playground has to offer.
“[Brentwood Green is] one of the most beautiful vibrant public-private partnerships here in Los Angeles,” Bonin said. “It is a model of fusing community and school because it benefits school and neighborhood all at the same time. The Brentwood community has taken a place that was way too gray and had way too much asphalt and has given it life.”
With a new manager officially chosen, the playground at Brentwood Science Magnet is sure to be home to exciting new events and activities in the near future.
