Hartman’s New Playground Core Board Helps Bridge Communication Gap

On the playground at Hartman Early Childhood Learning Center, laughter, play, and imagination fill the air. Now, something new is helping those moments become even more meaningful: an interactive core board that gives every child a voice.

The core board, a low-tech alternative communication tool, features a grid of symbols, pictures, and high-frequency words, such as “want,” “go,” “help,” and “stop.” By simply pointing to pictures, students can express their needs, build sentences, and connect with others.

Though all are welcome to use the new core board, it is especially beneficial for pre-kindergarten students still developing language skills or navigating communication challenges.

Hartman speech-language pathologist teachers Kristina Barth and Amita Koul are the driving force behind the new learning tool.

“A lot of logistics were involved,” Koul said. “I told our assistant principal, Megan Wendt, about it, and she said this is an awesome idea. Kristina and I got together, and we made our own core board in the classroom; then made a playground version of that.”

With Wendt's support, the vision quickly grew into a collaborative effort. Local partners stepped in to help bring it to life. Lowe’s and Home Depot in Murphy donated the wood, while the Wylie ISD Education Foundation funded the vinyl sign that displays the symbols on the core board.

Bradley “Ty” Jackson, Kevin Privett, and Louis Huseman from the Wylie ISD Maintenance Department built the core board for the Cool Cats.

The result is a permanent, accessible communication tool placed right where students play, explore, and socialize.

“The core board gives students access to high-frequency words that help them communicate their wants and needs,” Barth said.

This new tool builds confidence, reinforces learning, and most importantly, it empowers students to express themselves in real time.

“All students use the core board, but it’s especially important for our special education and ESL students in pre-K,” Barth said. “They are the perfect population to implement something like this. It supports communication and can be used to generate sentences. Verbal students even use it to structure sentences.”

The board is color-coded by parts of speech, helping students visually organize their thoughts. A child might tap “I,” then “want,” then “swing,” building a complete sentence one symbol at a time.

“A teacher told me that one of the students was playing outside,” Koul said. “She ran to the core board, touched the picture of the toilet because she needed to go to the restroom, and her teacher was able to take her.”

In the past, that need might have gone unnoticed or caused frustration. Instead, the student was able to advocate for herself, clearly and independently.

“The core board helps bridge the gap between verbal and gestures,” Barth said. “We want our little ones to be able to express what they want when outside on the playground.”

Students are already embracing the core board.

“We are hopeful that we will be able to implement this in other elementary schools, too,” Koul said.