Dozens of students waited patiently in the fierce sun and thick humidity, through speeches and a ribbon-cutting ceremony behind Sunrise School in Monroeville.

But once the fanfare was over, children rushed forward and scrambled onto the colorful, freshly painted play equipment.

“Mykele couldn't wait,” said Sheena Mollett, a personal care assistant at Sunrise, referring to a 9-year-old autistic elementary student. “The cutting ceremony was taking too long (for him).”

On the morning of Sept. 1, Sunrise School, a special-needs school in Monroeville, opened its first playground in years. About 130 students ages 5 to 21 attend the school, which is one of three special-education schools operated by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit.

Private donors including the Biondi Motor Co. funded the roughly $60,000 project.

“It's a safe, secure environment for them to work on their motor skills,” said Dan Biondi, president of the company.

Mike Jeffrey of Jeffrey Associates, the Indianola-based company that built the playground, pointed to several of the newly installed items that can entertain students while doubling as a way to challenge them. One piece of equipment rotates based on how the child distributes his or her body weight.

Jeffrey said these movements help children use their proprioception — their sense of the body's position — a challenge for some children with special needs.

“We live in an age of universality,” he said. “The climber isn't just a climber. It has tactile function to it.”

Mollett said the new playground also provides a space where some of the children who have trouble interacting can “come out of their shell.”

“(Interaction) takes a lot of coaching, prompting, but once they come out here, there's no prompting,” she said.

Gideon Bradshaw is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-871-2369 or gbradshaw@tribweb.com.

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