OAKLAND — On an overcast afternoon, nothing was going to dampen the spirits of kids, parents and educators who gathered to celebrate the opening of a new playground, specifically designed with special-needs children in mind.

The playground, at the Burbank Child Development Center, formerly Tilden Elementary School, is the centerpiece of a $2.75 million renovation at the center. Much of that money was spent inside the school buildings to make the entire campus fully accessible, from restrooms inside and outside of the classrooms to ramps, gates, Braille signage and the play structure itself.

In the schoolyard, the large, bare asphalt surface has been replaced with a play structure, a synthetic turf playing field with hash marks, shade structures and a bioswale — a dirt area that captures water runoff.

Unique to this play structure is that the surface is well padded and smooth enough to accommodate wheelchairs, unlike ones with bark or rubber chips. Some features are set at a level accessible to kids in wheelchairs, and things such as steering wheels were designed with special-needs kids in mind.

“The entire school was made ADA-accessible, Tom Guajardo, principal at the 64th Avenue center, said effusively as he welcomed school leaders, parents and children Tuesday. “To get to this point is very, very gratifying.”

Beyond the professional satisfaction of seeing his preschool students quickly taking to their new playground, the event was poignant for him for personal reasons, he said. He was once a special-needs student himself, an English learner, and some of his schooling in Gilroy was conducted in custodian closets.

“Back then, you wondered what kind of assessment tools they used to identify special-needs students,” he said.

Today, Burbank serves as Oakland Unified’s diagnostic center for children up to age 5 who have received special-needs services by age 3, or whose parents are concerned they may need them.

In Oakland, Guajardo said, “We’re closing the equity and achievement gap. First, with students of color, then they went to gender and now they’re addressing the disparities in education with special ed.

“This project is Oakland Unified’s example of making sure that we have equity for special education. In many districts, you don’t see that. We’re an oasis in the middle of urban sprawl,” he said.

Additionally, there is now an enclosed roundabout for school bus boarding and drop-offs and improved access for delivery vehicles. Funding for the work came from the $475 million school bond Measure J, passed in 2012

The 80-person Burbank staff goes far beyond the usual call of duty in meeting the 175 students’ needs, Guajardo said. Among the challenges his students face, he said: Some are in diapers, some in wheelchairs, others are legally blind, require feeding through gastro-intestinal tubes or have other needs.

The improvements were years in the making. As they leaned against one of the new chain-link fences waiting for Superintendent Antwan Wilson, Oakland Councilwoman Desley Brooks and others to gather for the ribbon-cutting, David Colbert and Christie Anderson reminisced about the intensive planning process.

Colbert is coordinator of facilities and planning management for the school district. Former Tilden Principal Anderson is now director of early childhood education.

“We began to meet four years ago over concerns overall with the condition of the playground,” Anderson said. “What you see is our vision coming true. Safer, softer surfaces, an upgraded play structure, shade structure, better parking. It’s not great, it’s super.”

Wilson was held up by meetings, so Brooks was called on to do the ribbon-cutting. She was joined by Guajardo and 3-year-old Roderick Brown Jr., who came running when he saw the giant scissors.

“He ran right up there,” his grandmother, Remi Releford, said. She was on hand with Roderick’s father, Roderick Brown. When the boy arrived at Burbank a year ago, he would not talk, they said.

“He’s developing a lot here, progressing a lot with speech, recognition, awareness. He can count to 100, recognizes numbers, letters, shapes, colors, animals,” they said, completing each others’ sentences.

Earlier, Guajardo spoke of the differences the playground can make. A student who had not been at school in two months visited the day before. When Guajardo joined him in playing with his favorite toy car on the slides, the boy did not panic when his mother briefly walked away, and has now finally returned to school.

“Playgrounds are where you learn your first life lessons,” Brooks said earlier. “Confidence, how to share, things that you will need all through life. You have no limitations; that’s what all children should know. On this playground, you can see that,” she said.

For Guajardo, who became principal at Burbank two months ago, “These are the types of facilities that one can only dream of.”

Contact Mark Hedin at 510-293-3452, 408-759-2132 or mhedin@bayareanewsgroup.com.