A local school is one step closer to providing more recreational opportunities for children with special needs.

  Our World at H.O.P.E. Park, at 2251 GA. Highway 42 North in McDonough, recently received a $50,000 donation from Falcon Design. The funds will go toward the construction of an all-accessible playground for the Our World School, which is geared toward children with special needs.

  H.O.P.E. is an acronym for “helping other people excel.” H.O.P.E. Park is a nonprofit organization designed to promote the well-being and advancement of the special-needs community, said Executive Director Lori Harris.

  The facility’s most crucial program, she said, is the Our World School, for children with special needs from kindergarten through 12th grade.

  Harris said the school features classrooms that follow the Applied Behavioral Analysis Model, as well as occupational, physical and speech therapies.

  “We teach academics to the individual level, life skills, social skills and developmental visual learning,” said Harris. “Our kids need certain development in order to learn, including balance, motor skills, proprioception – the ability to predict how our bodies move through time and space. These playgrounds help to develop these skills for all children, not just special-needs children.”

  The school relocated to its own building on April 8, said Harris. She said the playground is part of the accreditation process for the school.

  “That building was donated by C&C Fence in McDonough,” she said. “Our students made a video about things they would need to make things better. They wanted a playground they could play on.”

  Harris said Falcon Design committed to donating $50,000, and a playground company committed to an in-kind donation, discounting the price of the playground itself.

  “The entire playground that we need to get is still $105,000,” said Harris. She said as additional funds are raised, they will go toward the construction of the playground.

  Bobby Boan is a partner at Focused Service Group and Falcon Design Consultants in Stockbridge. He and Managing Partner Adam Price donated the funds for equipment at the playground.

  Boan said Our World at H.O.P.E. Park’s mission is close to his heart. 

  “I’ve been involved with H.O.P.E. Park for a couple years now,” said Boan. “We’re trying to help the school build up and to establish a residence for special needs folks in Henry County. I’m interested in helping with that cause. are so many things that I didn’t realize that this playground would help with.”

  Boan said Price, who has a child with autism, “knows what it’s like” for kids with special needs who need exercise or have issues with motor skills.

  “It’s not just for them to play on,” said Boan. “Lori approached and said what they’re looking for. It was an eye-opener for us. So we said tell us what you want, and we’ll pay for it.”We’re just trying to help the kids out.”

  Harris added that the playground endeavor represents a “big step” for Our World at H.O.P.E. Park.

  “It’s great for our kids because all of them, even the big kids, will be able to play,” she said. “We’ll be installing the initial part of the playground in about six weeks.”

  For more information, visit www.OurWorldatHopePark.com.