L.A. Community Schoolyards^TM Program

Trust for Public Land’s 10-Minute Walk® goal aspires to give every person in America close-to-home access to a quality park or green space. The L.A. Community Schoolyards program has the potential to make that a reality for more than 1 million residents of Los Angeles.

We transform existing schoolyards into vibrant, inspiring green spaces for students and the public to use, even after school hours. In historically underfunded Los Angeles communities, these spaces:

• Promote healthy lifestyles through physical activity and social interaction
• Improve climate resilience by cooling the surrounding environment and promoting shade equity
• Capture polluted stormwater runoff and clean or reuse it elsewhere

To determine which schools and communities are most in need, we considers four factors:

Climate: Is the school located in a “heat island,” where average temperatures are 1.25 degrees hotter or more, on average, than the surrounding town or city? Is there potential for groundwater recharge?

Health: Does the community have high rates of asthma and cardiovascular disease?

Equity: What level of support and assistance does the school qualify for and receive under California’s Local Control Funding Formula, which measures the number of low-income and other high-need students within each school district?

Park Access: How many people live within a 10-minute walk of the school and have no other quality parks space nearby?

“Transforming asphalt-covered schoolyards into vibrant, green spaces with natural play structures and outdoor classrooms that are unlocked for public use after school hours can greatly help provide park access for the 1.5 million Angelenos who lack it,” says Guillermo Rodriguez, California state director for Trust for Public Land.

“Green schoolyards can not only address the park equity gap, but students, teachers, and staff will benefit with increased shading that reduces the harmful impacts of increased heat,” adds Rodriguez.

With the help of local communities and various partners, we can eliminate L.A.’s green space disparities. Trust for Public Land is part of the Los Angeles Living Schoolyards Coalition, working to build a local movement for school greening in L.A.