Cheer-Worthy Schoolyards from Coast to Coast

At Jennie Reed Elementary School in Tacoma, Washington, students have to shout to hear each other at recess. And the building’s HVAC filters are replaced twice as often as at other area schools. The reason? Noise and air pollution, respectively, from traffic whizzing down Interstate 5, which sharply abuts the property, separated only by a retaining wall. But students and teachers alike have a new reason to shout—a celebratory one.

A renovated community schoolyard opened at Jennie Reed in May 2024, offering a vibrant place for students to learn and greater park access for nearby residents. The site includes climate-smart features such as built-in drainage to capture rainwater and prevent flooding, and a line of newly planted trees will reduce noise and air pollution in a big way over time.

Just a few months earlier, a similarly revamped play area was unveiled at nearby Helen B. Stafford Elementary School. Both schoolyards are among five pilot sites that Trust for Public Land is creating in the state in partnership with Tacoma Public Schools and Metro Parks Tacoma. The sites were designed, like all TPL community schoolyards, with creative input from students and residents.

Altogether, the five schoolyards—which remain open to neighbors after school hours—will serve more than 25,000 people, increasing the percentage of Tacoma residents within a 10-minute walk of a park from 31 (in 2020) to 75, greatly improving park equity in a city that currently has one of Washington’s largest park access gaps.

“We’re proud to bring access to the outdoors to Tacoma neighborhoods that needed more space for people to gather and play,” says Sarneshea Evans, a Washington program director for TPL. And play they will: For students, the overarching health and climate benefits fly under the radar while they’re busy enjoying cleaner air, colorful new play equipment, and fun local features such as a new lion statue at Stafford in honor of its mascot.

Nearly 3,000 miles away in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, students at F. Amedee Bregy School celebrated their own community schoolyard opening in late 2023, adding to TPL’s growing list of 350-plus schoolyards nationwide that have been transformed from asphalt lots with dated play structures to thriving outdoor spaces ready for learning.

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These sites include green infrastructure working behind the scenes, as well. The updated schoolyard at Bregy, for instance, can capture 1.5 million gallons of stormwater and provides further climate benefits by way of 30 new trees.

At Add B. Anderson Elementary School, where TPL transformed another Philadelphia playground about 6 miles away, former Principal Dr. Laurena Zeller applauds the process: “We gave our students the opportunity to dream a little bit bigger and wider in a space that is meaningful to them,” she says.

At F. Amedee Bregy School in Philadelphia, TPL partnered with the community to transform their schoolyard into a safe, fun, and vibrant green space that’s within a 10-minute walk of nearly 10,000 residents. Photo: Elyse Leyenberger

From coast to coast, Trust for Public Land and our local partners are bringing joy, togetherness, and climate resilience to students and neighborhoods, one community schoolyard at a time. That’s certainly something to cheer about.

Amy McCullough is a senior writer for Trust for Public Land and managing editor of Land&People magazine. She is also the author of The Box Wine Sailors, an adventure memoir.