The biggest problem with the new tot lot's at Scott Montgomery / KIPP's Shaw Campus, is not that they're too nice — because kids deserve the best — but that they are so nice that students may actually look forward to going to school so they can have time each day to use them — and they might not want to leave school. The wii's and game boys may now have stiff competition that will encourage some healthy physical exercise. The safety surfacing is a welcome change to hard asphalt and hard and messy tan bark and sand; it is also more "green" and sustainable since it's made of recycled products. (My niece and nephew are going to LOVE it when they visit next because falls on the ground aren't going to be very painful; though they aren't going to have as much sympathy for the manipulative faux injury drama they've mastered to get attention. Even an adult weighing more than 200lbs is going feel a significant bounce in their step.)

Even with the fencing around the campus, the interior courtyard's 5-12 playground is going to need some 24/7 cameras (and perhaps some signs indicating that those using it are under the surveillance of the authorities) to help prevent the cheap vandalism, amateur graffiti echoing Catcher in the Rye's coarse language, and other damage that has made previous equipment practically useless for young impressionable children.

Now that several parents on the block have initiated the process for getting more traffic calming elements installed on 1500 5th Street, and Safe Routes to School is working on their traffic calming features for the 400 block of P Street, the area should be an even safer place for children and families soon.