The SPARK Park at Travis Elementary

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The Travis Elementary School SPARK Park is successful because it works as both an urban public school playground and as a neighborhood park. The park is located 2.5 miles from Houston’s central business district, in an historic neighborhood known for its early 1900s bungalow homes. Travis completed a major “re-SPARKing Travis” effort in 2011. With great vision provided by Yale-trained NASA architect and Travis parent, Garrett Finney (www.farostudio.net), Travis’ SPARK Park now boasts several spectacular new recreation areas, including: a space for public chalkboard art, an imaginary play area for younger children, a new exercise area for older students and neighborhood residents, an outdoor theater for performance and movies, and a very large shaded sandbox (visit related Houston Chronicle article here: http://www.chron.com/business/homefront-neighborhoods/article/Travis-playground-is-a-community-affair-1354638.php). Travis Elementary uses the playground area on a daily basis for: recess, PE classes, creative movement classes, and after school program activities. The playground is also used for many school events across the year. The park is maintained by school staff on a daily basis and Travis students are taught to keep the playground clean. The Travis PTA organizes clean-up days across the year and funds athletic equipment for students to use during recess. Parents, children, and neighbors work together to refresh and mulch the flower beds, to resurface the jogging path, and spruce up the field and play areas. During non school hours, the park is used for both residential recreation and civic events. Civic activities include: Fall Carnival, Lights in the Heights Christmas Nighttime Festival, and the Woodland Heights Association Spring Home Tour.