Greenfield Elementary Community Schoolyard

For our first community schoolyard in Pittsburgh, Trust for Public Land will transform the concrete lot at Greenfield Elementary School from asphalt to amazing!

Students benefit when we swap asphalt deserts for trees, gardens, and updated play equipment. According to teachers and school administration, attendance, behavior, and test scores all improve after schoolyard renovations.

Through our participatory design process, we led a semester’s worth of STEAM lessons to design the new Greenfield Community Schoolyard. Students learned about the climate and health issues facing the community and how features in the design—rain gardens, canopy trees, and social gathering spaces—would address broader community needs. With the student created design in hand, we’re making their dream a reality. We aim to break ground on their new community schoolyard in spring 2024.

In addition to providing an inviting green place for students, the schoolyard will be open as a community park outside of school hours to the over 2,500 individuals that live within a 10-minute walk of the school, the majority of which are low- and middle-income families who have historically lacked access to quality park and play space.

Of the 90,000 public schools in the United States, only a tiny fraction have schoolyards that are green and inviting, as well as open to the public after school and on weekends. Most are overheated, vacant, and uninspired. Our community schoolyards continue to lead the movement to transform our nation’s asphalt playgrounds into vibrant green spaces that are improving student education outcomes, community health, and climate resiliency. With your support, we can make sure that our work at Greenfield School is the first of many successful projects in Pittsburgh.