Dallas Schoolyard Program

Dallas | Texas

What We’re Doing
Providing 71,375 Dallas residents park access by transforming schoolyards into neighborhood green spaces.

Our Goal
Connect with community leaders, residents, students, and school staff to create neighborhood parks that fit their vision and needs.

Support Our Work in Texas

An aerial view of a playground in a park.

Dallas Schoolyard Program by the Numbers

71,375

residents gaining access to a park within a 10-minute walk of home

outdoor classrooms

100s

of trees planted

school playgrounds transformed into community hubs

The Power of a Park

Living within 10 minutes of a park can increase a person’s mental and physical health and enhance children’s educational experiences. For communities, quality green spaces close the outdoor equity gaps, help combat the effects of climate change, and facilitate social cohesion.

But in 2017 Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore® Index revealed that over half a million Dallas residents lacked access to a nearby park. To close that gap, we partnered with the Texas Trees Foundation, Dallas Park and Recreation, and Dallas Independent School District to transform public school playgrounds into neighborhood parks accessible to the broader communities after learning hours.

The Dallas Community Schoolyards® program improves health, equity, and climate resilience of neighborhoods throughout the city. It enhances the lives of students, families, teachers, and the community.

The TPL Land and People Lab used computer-assisted geomapping to pinpoint public school campuses located in Dallas’s largest park deserts—areas lacking nearby green space. In partnership with the Texas Trees Foundation, TPL transformed 20 of the highest-need campuses into “Cool School Neighborhood Parks.”

The program provides each schoolyard with a new playground, walking trail, outdoor classroom, native trees, and community-inspired art created by local artists. Community members and schools are heavily involved in choosing the design elements, features, and equipment that fit their needs.

TPL connects with neighborhood leaders, residents, students, and school staff through community design meetings, surveys, online engagement tools, and educational Park Bench Chats.

Texas Trees leads construction of park features, tree planting, and a nature-based curriculum for students.

In 2022, TPL celebrated the grand opening of the 20th schoolyard within a 10-minute walk of over 71,000 Dallas residents.

“This program represents the work of TPL by doing what we do best, creating access to outdoor places for everyone, everywhere. Each of these schoolyards is located in park deserts, and our goal is to make sure these parks are accessible and welcoming to everyone by working with the community to address their needs and fulfill their vision,” says Molly Plummer, director of Parks and Schoolyards for TPL’s Texas program.

Explore our Schoolyard’s Murals

We believe a successful project is not a product, it’s a process. Across our Dallas Community Schoolyards, we work hand-in-hand with community members to build spaces that hold intention and foster interaction. And by engaging local artists, we ensure the spaces we create reflect the art and culture of the local community, so everyone feels welcome and represented. Explore the murals at many of our schoolyard sites to see the spirit of each neighborhood come to life:

David G. Burnet Elementary School
“As I looked at their drawings I imagined the children making them, every one of them filling their blank pages with their imagination, creating their unique worlds, the same way I did when I was little. I wanted this to become the interconnecting thread of the mural, I wanted the children to become co-protagonists of this story, specifically, I wanted to show the connection between the children, their imagination, and nature.“ —Alejandra Camargo

Frank Guzick Elementary School
"Collaborating with young students on an installation at their school sounded like an amazing way to build pride for one’s community. I took care to incorporate as many direct images of animals, insects and fauna that were drawn by the students. I wanted the piece to almost jump of the wall with electric colors and dynamic shapes.” —Abi Salami

Sylvia Mendez CREW Academy
“I am honored that my design, which I really consider to be ‘a collaboration’ with the students of the school since it was directly inspired by their drawings, now graces one of the exterior walls of one of the school for the students and public to view. I was provided with roughly 50 pencil drawings, some with color but mostly just pencil, by the students who were encouraged to draw images of “trees and things that live in trees” and I got drawings of leaves, flowers, butterflies, birds, bird nests, spiders, cats and rainbows and I incorporated as many of the students’ drawings as I could fit into my composition. It was truly an inspired collaboration.” —Billy Hassel

Reinhardt Elementary School
“Nature is my favorite subject, and it was a pleasure to see and incorporate the student art into my own. Their own joy with the theme was clear and an inspiration. I hope these murals bring the same sense of fun and appreciation of nature to the community that their creation brought to me.” —Ray-Mel Corneliu

Arturo Salazar Elementary School
“Being endlessly delighted by the student’s inspirational and funny art made creating a mural with them a complete joy that I believe is apparent in the art we created together. I will forever admire these children and the child inside us all to see the best and most hopeful things in life.” —Jorge Gutierrez

Sam Houston Elementary School
“I had the privilege of working with some incredibly talented young artists who, under the guidance of their teacher, created some delightful artwork that included rainbows, trees, flowers, leaves, butterflies, birds and clouds. Their images encouraged me to incorporate these same colors in my design to evoke cheer and happiness in anyone viewing the mural.” —Viola Delgado
“Art is the opportunity to cultivate creativity, nurturing a student’s adventures in self-expression.” —Peter Wood

Anne Frank Elementary School
“For this mural we wanted to make sure we represented the soul of the school in the best way. Anne Frank Elementary is a very special school. It is the largest elementary school in Dallas as it serves students from 30 different countries who speak more than 20 languages. The name of the school “Anne Frank” is also very important as it represents an amazing child and talented writer. Thinking about all these amazing things we decided to draw inspiration from both the children’s drawings and writings. We thought that there was no better way to represent their artwork than through “Friendship” motifs shown on open hands.” —Alejandra Camargo

Leila P. Cowart Elementary School
“After working closely with TPL and the Cowart community we settled on showcasing the mascot as the main theme for their mural. A mascot is an important element. It represents leadership and pride for your school.” —Sandra Equihua

Esperanza “Hope” Medrano Elementary
“The Mural was inspired by the hard work of hope’s (esperanza) contribution to the community and her colorful future that she painted for the kids in that area.” —Hatziel Flores

Alex W. Spence TAG
This surrealist interpretation of floating plant worlds represents the many subfields of sciences that middle schoolers will begin studying in their classes. Wheron’s “PLANTOLOGIES” mural aims to spark curiosity about the natural sciences, while reminding viewers about the playful complexities of our natural world.

Anson Jones Elementary School
“I would like to call the mural, “VIVA LOS TIGRES!”, not only to celebrate the Anson Jones’s tiger mascot and school colors, but to celebrate the fierce and courageous spirit inside all the faculty and students in this wonderful community. —Jorge Gutierrez

Mockingbird Elementary School
Tori Tankersley worked closely with TPL, community members, and Mockingbird faculty and students to select 5 words that best represent community hub, Mockingbird Elementary.
Instead of a mural Tori and the community decided to create park signage that translated those 5 representative words into Spanish, English, and were depicted in American Sign Language to reflect the school’s deaf community.

San Jacinto Elementary School
"I [was] inspired by what the children mentioned as characteristic of Pleasant Grove and their school. The presence of nature, the sense of community and sharing with their peers and neighbors, and the fact that it is a majority Latino neighborhood. I also made a point to incorporate different shades of purple, which is one of the main colors for San Jacinto Elementary." —SM Sanz

Nancy Moseley Elementary School
“The theme behind the final image was the old saying “reach for the stars”. I wanted the kids to be able to look towards their big dreams everyday. I wanted to capture the idea that we can become so great we can touch the sky.”— Alec DeJesus

L.O. Donald Elementary School
"The title of this work is "The Connection". I titled it that because it's about the power of togetherness. How much further we can go and grow together, watering each other, supporting each other in every way." —Drigo

F.P. Caillet Elementary School
“I received about 50-60 pieces of artwork from the students. I ran through them varies times circling everything that stuck out to me. I started sketching and based the overall composition on the students' drawings. Other than the kids depicted in the mural, every component in the artwork was derived from their art, from the abstract plants to the rain drops. This is an original artwork inspired by the community's feedback. It is meant to depict a united community and school and the safe environment they create for themselves and everyone." —Agustin Chavez

Stephen C. Foster Elementary School
“The birds depicted in the mural represent every country from Central America and Mexico, placed in geographical order. Each bird carries a child, like a dream, as they fly in an open sky towards a brighter day. The imagery represents the community's Hispanic heritage and their hopes for the children at Stephen C. Foster Elementary."—Natalia Padilla

Walnut Hill International Leadership Academy
“I knew that I wanted the theme of the mural to revolve around community, rebuilding and hope. As a result, I decided to name the mural "Seeds of Hope," which combines these two ideas to convey a sense of optimism that I hope the audience will feel when viewing my work.” —Ryan Chen

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The Art of a Community

“Art reminds us that we’re not alone and that we all share a universal human experience. Art gives us benefits for our brains and our immune systems. We wanted to make sure [with these installations] we represent the soul of the school in the best way.”

—Alejandra Camargo, local artist who helped create schoolyard murals with the students at Anne Frank Elementary School

Explore a Few of Our Dallas Schoolyard Projects

Arturo Salazar Elementary

Anne Frank Elementary

Alex W. Spence Talented/Gifted Academy

A family in a stroller in front of a sign that says cool school park.

David G. Burnet Elementary

Anson Jones Elementary