Cooper’s Poynt Family School

Cooper’s Poynt Family School is a public elementary school that serves families in a predominantly low-income neighborhood in North Camden. Once a cracked asphalt lot with two basketball hoops, The Trust for Public Land worked with the school community to reinvent the barren schoolyard. Now it’s a bold play space, with colorful new equipment and porous pavement.

Our parks and schoolyards provide multiple benefits: absorbing storm water, offering shady places to escape the heat, creating neighborhood gathering places, and are outdoor recreation areas that improve public health. One important function of this new park is its ability to relieve Camden’s over‐taxed sewer system through rain gardens that will capture and direct stormwater.

The first phase of the new playground, opened in early December 2018, brought new play equipment along with a vibrant design to create a dynamic space for play, learning, and gathering.  In September 2019, we completed the second phase of the site improvements, installing two half-sized basketball courts with standard size hoops and colorful painted stripping adorning the porous asphalt. During the final phase, we will complete the outdoor classrooms, seating features, and rain gardens, filling them with lush trees and native grasses. The new schoolyard serves more than 500 K-8th grades students and nearly 9,000 neighbors who live within a 10-minute walk.