Christmas comes early for this school’s students, thanks to generous donor

Students at Viridian Elementary School in Arlington will have a more comfortable place to play when hot weather returns, thanks to a donation from Virdian’s developer and the fundraising efforts of the school’s Parent Teacher Association.

Viridian donated $25,000 of the $50,000 needed to construct shade shelters over the school’s playground equipment. Officials said the structures should be in place soon after spring break. The remaining money was raised by the PTA, which will continue seeking funds for improvements to a playground for pre-kindergarten students.

The school has a tuition-based pre-kindergarten program, one of four offered in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford school district, which includes part of north Arlington.

On the school’s website, campus officials thanked the developer and said “Christmas came early for Viridian Elementary.”

“By the time it starts getting really hot in North Texas, the shade structures should be in place,” said Debra Meers, marketing director for Viridian. “Hot days and playgrounds aren’t necessarily a good marriage since the equipment can get too hot to use. This shade will mitigate that.”

Viridian Elementary opened in the Viridian master-planned community in 2014. At build-out, the 2,000-acre Viridian development — part of the Johnson Development Corp. — will include about 4,200 homes.

This story was originally published December 19, 2017 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Christmas comes early for this school’s students, thanks to generous donor."