Oakland Community Schoolyards

Oakland | California

What We’re Doing

Transforming asphalt schoolyards in underserved communities into vibrant green spaces for students and neighbors to use.  

Our Goal

Provide every person in Oakland with access to nature, improved health and learning opportunities, and enhanced schools—all within a 10-minute walk of home.

Oakland Community Schoolyards by the numbers
1,900
students served
115+
trees planted
12,000
local residents impacted
Taking Four Oakland Schoolyards from Asphalt to Extraordinary
About This Program
  • Greener Schoolyards for Oakland

    On November 3, 2020, voters in Oakland voted yes to help fund this change. Measure Y will provide $735 million to make basic repairs and upgrades to Oakland schools, including $200 million that can be applied to convert empty blacktops into verdant play spaces. Our report outlines how those play spaces benefit entire communities.

    Download the Report

     

    OUSD Living Schoolyard Guidelines

    These guidelines were developed by OUSD staff, partners, landscape architects, contractors, students, parents, and community members working together to create a shared vision of a living schoolyard. These guidelines will provide a common set of considerations and parameters, provide OUSD approved designs, innovative sustainability solutions, and help meet student needs.

    Download the Guidelines

  • In a time of compounding crises, America’s schoolyards are packed with potential

    As families count down to the first day of school, one thing is for certain: the 2020-2021 school year will be unlike any other in our collective lifetimes.

    The COVID-19 pandemic has put educators and school administrators between a rock and a hard place: bring kids back to the classroom, where experts say that all will be at high risk of virus transmission, or continue with distance learning, which experts agree compromises educational outcomes and accelerates inequality.

    In this pivotal moment for America’s kids, we’re a part of a growing push to proffer an alternate solution: take learning outside.

    Read More

  • Help Us Turn Underused Schoolyards Into Vibrant Parks

    Raise your hand if you believe Congress must provide the funding our nation needs to transform barren public schoolyards into vibrant community parks.

    Read More

     

Get in Touch With Our California Team
San Francisco Office

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

Program Lead
Kira Maritano, Sr. Program Manager, Bay Area Park Development Team

kira.maritano@tpl.org