César E. Chávez Campus

Oakland | California

What We’re Doing
Transforming Oakland’s schoolyards from empty lots into green oases

Our Goal
Connect more students and community members to the benefits of the outdoors

Support Our Work in California

Reimagined with community at its core

Schools make up the campus

628

Students now benefit from this schoolyard

12,000

Residents live within a 10-minute walk

The César E. Chávez Campus Story

In the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland, the César E. Chávez Campus is shared by two elementary schools, International Community School and Think College Now—both serving diverse student populations from low-income families and recent immigrants. While the neighborhood is packed with culture, it’s surrounded by freeways and industrial areas, making vibrant green spaces hard to come by. Trust for Public Land, Oakland Unified School District, and Green Schoolyards America partnered together to reimagine a close-to-home park for the Fruitvale community by transforming the César E. Chávez Campus into a green oasis.

Nearly 90% of the previous schoolyard’s surface was asphalt, meaning extreme heat and noise would make the playground unwelcoming to students and nearby residents. Through our community design process, we listened to what community members wanted in a close-to-home park and schoolyard, then worked together to make their park dreams come alive. The renovated schoolyard includes new basketball courts, playground equipment, vegetable garden, outdoor classroom, grass fields, and new trees. The community’s vision was a green schoolyard with natural elements that allowed students to play, residents to gather, and helped cool the neighborhood on the hottest California days. Now complete, the schoolyard connects more than 12,000 residents that live within a 10-minute walk to the benefits of a close-to-home green space.

About This Project

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Oakland Community Schoolyards

Explore our work at Community Schoolyards across Oakland

Oakland Community Schoolyards

Get in Touch With Our California Team

Los Angeles Office

135 West Green Street
2nd Floor
Pasadena, CA, 91105
(323) 223-0441
losangeles@tpl.org

Sacramento Office

1107 9th Street
Suite 1050
Sacramento, CA, 95814
(916) 557-1673
sacramento@tpl.org

San Francisco Office

23 Geary Street
Suite 1000
San Francisco, CA, 94108
(415) 495-4014
sanfrancisco@tpl.org

Guillermo Rodriguez

Vice President Pacific Region, California State Director

415-800-5267
california@tpl.org