122nd Street Elementary School’s schoolyard is—like the majority of school grounds in Los Angeles and our country—covered in unshaded, barren asphalt. For decades, this wasted, unwelcoming outdoor space has done little to inspire the school’s 600 students nor to improve their urban community.

In recent years, the unshaded, predominantly asphalt schoolyard has become a health hazard, limiting children’s outdoor play and learning. Our research has found that on sunny 65°-90° F days, unshaded paved schoolyard temperatures can reach 120°-160° F leading to heat exhaustion and heat stroke in young children.   

Building a Schoolyard Forest

In 2024, Green Schoolyards America teamed up with 122nd Street’s school community to transform their outdated, inhospitable urban schoolyard into a lush 21st century climate- and kid-friendly schoolyard forest. This new, welcoming tree-filled learning and play space will be the first of its kind in the Los Angeles region, achieving 30% tree canopy coverage in student areas as recommended by urban forestry and climate experts.  Once completed, the project will provide thousands of low-income K-5 students with daily access to nature, life-changing hands-on outdoor education, and vital shade on dangerously hot days. In addition, it will serve as a model for best practices in schoolyard greening throughout Los Angeles and beyond.

The project is part of Green Schoolyard America’s new Schoolyard Forest Initiative, which is working with state agencies and local school districts to scale climate-friendly schoolyard forests to more than # million children in high-need California communities by 2035. 

Community-Driven Design

During the 2024-25 school year, students, teachers, and caregivers provided local design firm SLA (South Los Angeles) with valuable project input via surveys, interviews, and meetings.  Students even created their own forest dioramas and voted on what they would like their future schoolyard forest to look and feel like. As a result, the final project design will replace 1,200 sq. ft. of sparse, weed-ridden field with a dynamic outdoor learning and play environment that includes 44 climate-adapted shade trees and 124 shrubs, a living outdoor classroom with log seating, a pollinator habitat garden, garden paths for exploring, and educational signage to enhance children’s learning experience.  

Summer 2025 GroundBreaking

Over the summer, Green Schoolyards America and design/build firm SLA, Inc. broke ground on the project, completing the site demolition work; installing the new irrigation system; and planting the first batch of trees.  

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Right now, we are working to raise the additional $60,000 in funding needed to complete this valuable community project by spring 2026.  Thanks to a generous grant from CAL FIRE, all donations received by November 30th will be matched 1:1 up to $60,000. 

Please click here to make a tax-deductible donation today.  Your support will be instrumental in improving the public school experience for thousands of young children in South Los Angeles.