The New Frontier is Officially Open

The climbing structures are ready. The willow huts are waiting to be explored. The bamboo forest is ready to be planted. The New Frontier is officially open!

After years of student questions, imaginative ideas, thoughtful research, and collaboration with experts, Mount Vernon’s newest outdoor play and learning environment welcomed its first celebrations. On Thursday, November 5, Preschool families gathered for Fall on the Frontier. The following day, Lower School students celebrated with their Fall Festival, bringing the space to life.

“Every great space at Mount Vernon starts with a question, and the Frontier started with our students’ questions. Watching our youngest learners run, climb, and imagine in a place their own ideas helped design is exactly what it means to be Impact Ready,” says Head of School Kristy Lundstrom.

Relive the celebrations in our photo galleries: Preschool Fall on the Frontier and Lower School Fall Festival.

Designed by Students

The New Frontier began with questions from students who knew exactly what they wanted more of: places to build, pretend, climb, and explore.

In spring 2022, PK5 students presented their ideas to Mount Vernon leadership. Many of their suggestions became the climbing structures installed that summer. A year later, additional proposals from the PK5 community inspired another round of improvements.

Those preschoolers are now in Grade 3. Earlier this year, George H. reflected on what he and his classmates had imagined: “We wanted more places to build and pretend.” Today, willow huts and a giant tree house bring those ideas to life.

The next chapter brought older students into the process. For two years, Grade 10 Innovation Diploma (iD) students studied how children use the space, observed preschoolers at play, interviewed teachers and students, consulted playground and child development experts, and prototyped new concepts.

“Knowing that our design decisions would directly shape how younger students play, learn, and move made the work feel real in a new way,” shares iD student Sophia Molinari.

The result is a space where student ideas are visible in every corner.

From Idea to Installation

• Students asked for more places to build and pretend. They got willow huts for imaginative play and a bamboo forest (that is plotted out and will be planted soon) for building and exploration.
• Students asked for more ways to climb. They got climbing and hanging structures designed for different ages and developmental stages.
• iD designers observed that younger and older children play differently. They designed zones with progressively more challenging experiences, welcoming children from 18 months through Grade 5.
• Students loved the original Frontier amphitheater. The new design builds on that favorite with a performance stage and a reading nook.

Final design and installation were led by David Barclift and Barclift Associates. David, a former Chairman of the Mount Vernon Board of Trustees, worked alongside his son, Robert Barclift ’12, a Mount Vernon alumnus and founder of Barclift Consulting, a civil engineering firm. For the Barclift family, the project offered an opportunity to contribute to the campus where Robert grew up.

The Science Behind the Play

There is a lot happening beneath the surface of a great play experience. Every feature of the New Frontier was intentionally designed to support how children develop, move, think, and learn.

Spinning and bouncing engage the vestibular system, which helps the brain process balance and movement. Climbing and hanging develop grip strength, core stability, and proprioception, the body’s awareness of its position in space. Natural, uneven terrain challenges coordination and encourages children to adjust with every step.

Movement and thinking go hand in hand. Active, self-directed play supports the development of executive function skills, including planning, working memory, and self-control. Water and mud kitchens invite children to measure, pour, experiment, and discover cause and effect. The performance stage encourages storytelling and expression, while the reading nook creates opportunities to pause, imagine, and explore.

“Before children can focus on reading, writing, or math, they learn to focus their bodies. The part of the brain that helps a child stay steady on the climbing wall will later help them sustain attention through a challenging book or a hard problem. Harvard researchers call ages 3 to 5 a window for dramatic growth in these skills, and we designed the Frontier to intentionally build them,” says Kate Canady, Director of Preschool. “On the Frontier, children aren’t just growing physically stronger. They’re growing mentally stronger, too.”

At 26,236 square feet, nearly 0.6 acres, the New Frontier is the largest outdoor play space Mount Vernon has ever offered, more than doubling the space available to children in recent years.

A Place to Wonder, Wander, and Grow

The Frontier has always been a place where sand-filled shoes tell the story of a great day. The New Frontier carries that spirit forward with more room to explore, more opportunities to imagine, and more possibilities for discovery.

Its story is also a reminder of what can happen when we start with questions, listen to learners, and give their ideas the opportunity to become something real.

And now, the next chapter belongs to the children who will climb, create, experiment, perform, and discover here every day.

See you on the Frontier!