Lincoln Elementary Schoolyard

Many of the 49 elementary schools in New Jersey’s Newark Public School District need improvement. Their asphalt lots lack shade, greenery, or sufficient recreational features. In some cases, playgrounds are also used for parking, further limiting the space available for kids to get outside and play.

Looking toward a better future, Trust for Public Land is helping students, teachers, and community members transform the playground at Lincoln Elementary School to create a vibrant green schoolyard open to the public as a community park outside of school hours. This transformation is underway, and students and neighbors at Lincoln Elementary have identified amenities they want to include—like community-inspired art, new trees, a rain garden, and an outdoor classroom.

As the oldest continuously operating synagogue in the City of Newark, Congregation Ahavas Sholom is an Egalitarian Conservative Synagogue with a traditional service that welcomes all Jews, fulfills their spiritual needs, and provides educational and cultural experiences. In the spirit of Tikkun Olam, to mend the world, the Congregation works in active partnership with TPL to repair and restore playgrounds within our Community Schoolyards program. The group has already contributed greatly to TPL’s work on Lincoln Elementary and Sussex Avenue Renew School and has plans to aid in many more schoolyard projects in the future.

Since 1995, we’ve transformed 13 of Newark’s schoolyards and city parks into vibrant community spaces that benefit more than 95,000 residents who now live within a 10-minute walk of fun, safe public parks.