Green Schoolyards America

Green Schoolyards America seeks to transform asphalt-covered school grounds into park-like green spaces that improve children’s well-being, learning, and play while contributing to their communities' ecological health and climate resilience.

We are working to change the paradigm for school ground design, use, and management so all students will have access to the natural world in the places they already visit on a daily basis.  

Check out our latest report summarizing our impact over the last two years! We hope that these stories serve to inspire us all in moving our work forward.

We work collaboratively with partner agencies and organizations to create large-scale programs that support the living schoolyard movement, build relationships that help it succeed, and infuse outdoor learning and ecological design into the PreK-12 education system. Our work has a strong equity focus, and prioritizes locations that have the greatest need for educational, environmental, health, and open space improvements. 

National Schoolyard
Forest System®

A new initiative to increase tree canopy on PreK-12 public school grounds across the country, to directly shade and protect students from extreme heat and rising temperatures due to climate change. The initiative launched in 2022 with California as the first statewide program.

Schoolyard Forest System® Resource Library

A free, growing online resource library filled with practical resources to support schools and school districts as they plan, develop, use, and manage schoolyard forests. We have developed and curated resources focused on helping schools and districts make the case for schoolyard forests; design, implement, and maintain them; and take learning outdoors in these spaces.

California Schoolyard Tree Canopy Equity Study

A project quantifying the extent and distribution of tree canopy on California’s K-12 public school campuses. It will help us understand existing conditions, establish a baseline from which to measure change over time, and identify priorities for the California Schoolyard Forest System℠. The study’s findings will also provide tools for data-driven decision making to help California’s policymakers in their efforts to protect vulnerable children from extreme heat and impacts of climate change.

National Outdoor
Learning Library

A free online resource library designed to help schools and districts move their classes and programs outside across the country and around the world. The Library includes interdisciplinary content to help PreK-12 educational institutions design, use, manage, and invest in a future with engaging, hands-on, outdoor experiences for students of all ages. Originally created to address the pandemic, this extensive collection will continue to grow over time.