Peaceful Playgrounds Founders Story
Celebrating over 25 years- 1998 and beyond
Dr. Melinda Bossenmeyer, Founder
Peaceful Playgrounds’ Founder Tested the Recess Program at Curran Elementary
It all started while serving as Principal at E. Hale Curran Elementary School in Murrieta, California. Dr. Melinda Bossenmeyer put in to use the Peaceful Playgrounds Program designed to get more children involved in physical activity rather than waiting in line for their turn or just standing around talking while on the playground.
Teachers and recess monitors immediately saw the tenor of the playground change. Student involvement was overwhelming and the atmosphere changed from one chaotic energy to calm focused cooperation. There was a dramatic reduction in playground injuries and as activities spread out, with students making use of a larger play area, stress and conflict due to what was perceived as overcrowding declined.
Dr. Bossenmeyer made a commitment at that point to expose more schools, more teachers, and more children to the benefits of her program—Peaceful Playgrounds.
It was in 1998, through her understanding of physical activities and infrastructure of the playground, Dr. Bossenmeyer developed the components that would make up the first Peaceful Playgrounds® program to be manufactured and distributed to K-8 schools. The impact was immediate and word started to spread about the benefits.
In April of that year, Family Circle Magazine featured Peaceful Playgrounds in its Editor’s column.
In 1999 the accolades and recognition increase when Peaceful Playgrounds received the prestigious Sharing Success Award from New York State. In addition, E. Hale Current Elementary School, where it all started, received the State of California’s Golden Bell Award for school-safety.
The year 2000 saw the introduction of the Peaceful Playgrounds Program Kit. This first kit included stencils, activity guides, blueprints, playgrounds injury reporting forms, playground reports and an overview video.
The moved their offices from Canyon Lake, California and relocated to Los Angeles to allow for more office space and warehousing. This same year also marked the publishing of “Play Nice” the company’s monthly newsletter. The awards kept coming as Peaceful Playgrounds received the Gold Bell Award for Excellence in Education School Safety from the California School Boards Association.
What does any successful company do? It incorporates. In 2004 Peaceful Playgrounds, Inc. was formed. Branching out from strictly educational facilities, into public parks and early childhood centers, Peaceful Playgrounds was recognized with a Friend of Recreation Award for meritorious contribution benefiting American Association for Leisure and Recreation.
More followed in 2006 when the “We Count” Pedometer Walking Program Curriculum went full speed ahead and received the National Promising Practices Award from Promising Practices in After School (PPAS). In 2007, listening to requests of educators, administrators, and students, Peaceful Playgrounds ventured into Instructional Games DVD’s and created new Recess Roll Out Stencils. The Recess Blog was launched to offer valuable insight and information to visitors. Online training and special webinars were added to the website making it easy and convenient for fostering support for educators and administrators.
In 2008 Dr. Bossenmeyer served on the Head Start Body Start National Head Start Program Board. The Head Start Body Start: The National Center for Physical Development and Outdoor Play. The National Center is a key component of the Surgeon General’s Childhood Overweight and Obesity Prevention Initiative and is organized and managed by the American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation (AAPAR) and the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE).
“I am excited and encouraged to bring my experience and understanding to the Head Start Body Start board,” said Dr. Bossenmeyer. “The future of our nation’s children, their health and well-being, relies on supporting daily, structured activities that create a healthy learning environment. By promoting an environment of mutual cooperation and increasing physical activity helps to decrease childhood obesity.”
In 2009, Peaceful Playgrounds moved their offices to Lake Elsinore, California to a larger facility. This location helped expand Peaceful Playgrounds line of products to bring their successful tools direct to families with I Move Play Learn Physical Education Subscription Boxes.
2023 marks the 25 Year Anniversary of Peaceful Playgrounds!
The Peaceful Playgrounds Foundation looks forward to partnering with funders and sponsors to help “ensure youth of all races, income levels, and abilities have a fun, educational, safe play environment and the opportunity to be happy, healthy, active, positive, and productive.” Join our email list to receive our “Play Nice” newsletter that includes information to support healthy active kids, recess and free play, a safe play environment along with grant resources and “20 Year Anniversary” specials.
As of today, Peaceful Playgrounds can be found in over 8,000 schools with more than 4 million children being exposed to the benefits of the Peaceful Playgrounds Programs and products.
Cheers to 25+ more years!
Expert Witness
Since 2004 Dr. Bossenmeyer has served as an expert witness in cases related to playgrounds, recess, supervision, school injuries, physical education, sports, cheerleading, and bullying.
She also speaks at National Conferences on issues of school liability, student injuries, physical education, sports and playground related legal issues. She is a retired teacher, principal and county office administrator with 28 years in schools both public and private.
To contact Dr. Bossenmeyer for expert witness work please email mbossenmeyer@gmail.com. You can also call the Peaceful Playgrounds office at 951-245-6970. Dr. Bossenmeyer resides in Southern California takes the majority of her cases in that regional area.
Qualifications for Expert Witness
A playground supervision expert witness is an individual who has specialized knowledge and experience in the field of playground supervision and can provide expert testimony in legal cases involving injuries or accidents that occur on the playground.
Dr. Bossenmeyer’s qualifications for her expert witness work are:
1. SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR: She is a retired school principal and county office administrator. School Administrators have a responsibility to ensure the safety of students on school grounds, including the. playground where statistically more serious injuries occur. She has knowledge of school policies and procedures related to playground supervision and can provide testimony on issues related to negligence or compliance with industry standards.
2. PLAYGROUND SAFETY EXPERT: Dr. Bossenmeyer has specialized knowledge and experience in designing, constructing, and maintaining safe and compliant playgrounds. She has provided testimony related to playground design, equipment, maintenance and state regulations governing school playgrounds.
3. PLAYGROUND SUPERVISION TRAINER: Dr. Bossenmeyer is considered one of the foremost experts nationally in the field of playground supervision. She has trained teachers and paraprofessionals across the United States in the practice of safe playground supervision and the roles and responsibilities of playground supervisors. She is author of numerous articles and a book on called, “Playground Supervision: A guide for playground supervisors. “ She is author of the PLAYGROUND SUPERVISION COURSE that provides instructions, quiz and certification for playground supervisors nationally.
4. CERTIFICATIONS AND BOARDS: She has served as a Board Member for the National Program for Playground Safety, a National Board Member for the Head Start Body Start Program, and many other state and national boards. She is certified by the National Program for Playground Safety as a playground inspector and by the National Recreation and Park Association as a Certified Playground Safety Inspector (CPSI).
5. Writer National Documents: Dr. Bossenmeyer served on the writing team for Strategies for Recess in Schools put out by SHAPE AMERICA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is a guidance document that provides schools with evidenced-based strategies for recess, as well as, a planning guide and template to help develop a written recess plan.
The second national guiding document is “Recess Planning in Schools.” It is a school recess plan which identifies strategies in a school that will help to organize and implement recess at a school site. It was coordinated through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in-conjunction with SHAPE AMERICA (the Society of Health and Physical Educators.
