We are starting to look into companies that provide playground equipment and I wanted to get some feedback from companies you have used. We live in Texas, so if you are in the area I would appreciate you opinions.

Our school's playground is in need of an overhaul and we want this to be our next big project to secure money for. Any thoughts or tips on what we should do during our company search would be most helpful.

I'm new to the PTO (and this website) and really could use the help.

Thanks in advance!

Hi Volunteer2day-
You've come to a great spot to get recommendations! Sounds like you are on the right track for doing your homework and talking to other people.

Here are some good articles with some advice from other leaders on building playgrounds:
School Playgrounds: Help And Advice For PTO / PTA Groups

Have you looked at our yellow pages yet for playground vendors? Great resource.
PTO Today Yellowpages

Interested in hearing from others who have been through this process.

Lisa

We revamped our playground 2 years ago; our town rec director recommended GameTime, which had put in equipment at other town playgrounds recently. We like what we got; the rep was good (of course, he probably doesn't cover TX and MA). We were thinking about a climbing wall, and I asked him about one I saw in a neighboring down where several of the grips had pulled loose. He knew exactly which one I was talking about, and said the company had redesigned the walls and provided new grips to that town and didn't know why the town hadn't installed them yet.

The school may want to look into the Grant money offered by Miracle Recreation playground equipment company, website Miracle's Grants for America's Schools Program . We used the same grant last year for the school playground for a percentage of the equipment under grant, which was actually a significant savings. I was able to apply for the grant and get it approved in a very short time, and it was pretty easy.

I do daycare as well as volunteer for the PTA and I think the best place to start is your local park district... in our community they use a company I thought only did fence installation and was surprised at the quality and size of what they offer.
good luck
KC in Fargo ND

Our school has nothing but great things to say about BCI Burke. Their structures are awesome and the reps are very friendly and knowledgeable. They have a grant program that runs until the end of the year. www.bciburke.com (then look for a link to the grant)