(BRIDGEPORT, 10/20/08) - A newly erected playground and science teaching garden on the south end of Bridgeport has brought bright colors and delightful giggles to what was once a drab corner of the neighborhood.

Built by volunteers from Builders Beyond Borders of Westport, as well as teachers and staff of New Beginnings Family Academy, the playground was dedicated at a ribbon cutting ceremony 11 A.M. Thursday, October 23 at school, located at 184 Garden Street.

State Sen. Ed Gomes joined parents, staff, students and area residents at the dedication of the new “Bentley Park Playground and Science Garden.” The facility is named after the public charter school’s chairman of the board, Richard Bentley of Westport, whose 70th birthday inspired a successful fundraising campaign for the project. In lieu of gifts to himself, Bentley asked friends and colleagues to make tax deductible donations to the school. The campaign raised more than $70,000 from dozens of donors.

“I’m thrilled to have been able to help and flattered that the school would honor me in this way,” said Bentley, a retired banker now on the adjunct teaching staff at Norwalk Community College.

Opened in 2002 to 156 students in grades K-3, New Beginnings Family Academy now enrolls 360 students through eighth grade. New Beginnings Family Academy held four #1 rankings on the 2007 Connecticut Mastery Test, including #1 in elementary African American scores.