Students in Mendota Heights are raising money to buy new playground equipment for their school.

Somerset Elementary School has a number of students who use wheelchairs and others who have autism.

They’ve launched a campaign to replace their current, 20-year-old playground equipment with a new design that has an in-ground merry-go-round, ramp entrances for wheelchairs, and sensory stations.

The new equipment is designed to be more accessible and more inclusive, and students voted on the design.

The price tag for the project is about $300,000, and parents are working on securing grants and donors. So far, just shy of $35,000 has been raised.

“When you talk about social-emotional development a lot of that work happens at recess … a lot of those soft skills like communicating and playing together,” said Somerset Elementary School Principal Libby Huettl.

The hope is that construction on the new playground will begin in the summer of 2025. For more information, click here. Donations can be made here.