Maret’s limited fall and spring use of Jelleff Field – just a few hours after school and on occasional weekends – reserves large blocks of time for other community groups to enjoy the field.
Maret uses Jelleff Field in the afternoons during the fall and spring seasons. Use of the nearby field has countless advantages: it relieves pressure on our daily schedule, avoids many early dismissal times, and supports our athletic program in a substantive way. Instead of four or five teams practicing on our back field, only two or three teams practice on campus simultaneously, making for safer conditions. Best of all, our football team no longer travels six miles to their practice field.
In 2010, thanks to the public/private partnership between Maret and the D.C. Department of Parks and
Recreation (DPR), Jelleff Recreation Center opened to the general public. Under a field-use agreement between Maret School and DPR, Maret – at its own expense – replaced the existing, substandard pool; installed permanent lights to allow for extended hours of field use by community groups; and completely replaced the scraggly grass field with artificial playing turf. The newly renovated and expanded field now is available for use by community groups, DC Stoddert Soccer’s youth soccer program, and Maret.
In the past, Jelleff suffered from excessive down time because of muddy conditions. The FieldTurf installation, which offers far better drainage and durability than a grass surface, maximizes playing time while minimizing the costs of maintenance.
Maret’s school-wide commitment to sustainability “plays out” at Jelleff Field, just as it does on campus, thanks to the use of a unique artificial playing turf. This
widely used playing surface, manufactured by FieldTurf, consists of a
backing that sits on the ground, synthetic “grass” fibers, and an
“infill” material made from shredded tires (“crumb rubber”) that
provides cushioning and stability.
The artificial surface eliminates the need to water the field and to use pesticides and fertilizer. Also, because there is no need to mow the grass, no carbon dioxide or other exhaust byproducts are released into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. The field material is 100% certified by FieldTurf to be lead-free.
Maret is grateful to our partner organizations for making this extraordinary public/private community project a success.
Maret School would like to thank our partner organizations for making
this extraordinary public/private community project a success.
We extend our appreciation to D.C. Department of Parks and
Recreation for their diligent and continual work with our outstanding construction company, Sigal Construction, whose professional excellence ensured that the project was finished on time and on budget.
Maret is also grateful for our community partners: Stoddert Soccer, Dumbarton Oaks, the National Park Service, and other community groups. We especially appreciate the support we received from Mayor Fenty, Councilman Evans, as well as the helpful input we received from ANC2E.
We are particularly grateful for this investment made possible by the Maret Board’s
commitment and by a number of generous donors who have earmarked
gifts for this project.
With special appreciation, Maret School also thanks Head of School Marjo Talbott for her exceptional leadership and extraordinary dedication to both school and community.
We look forward to watching our
soccer teams open our 2010-2011 playing season on our new shared
multipurpose field in Georgetown!
For more information, contact Maret Business Manager Darwin Walker at dawalker@maret.org or 202-939-8821.