Bridges Academy

Oakland | California

What We’re Doing
Transforming Oakland’s schoolyards from empty lots into green oases for everyone to enjoy.

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

Support Our Work in California

By the Numbers

500

elementary students served

10,000

residents within a 10-minute walk

10,366

square feet of asphalt removed

new trees planted

Our Work at Bridges Academy

Blocks away from the busy International Boulevard, the clacking BART line, and bumper-to-bumper traffic on I-880 sits Bridges Academy. It’s surrounded by industrial workshops, hot asphalt surfaces, and little shade, meaning pollution and heat plague students and residents daily. In a neighborhood where parks are hard to come by, we’ve partnered with Oakland Unified School District and local residents to maximize existing school spaces to better meet community needs through our Oakland Community Schoolyards® program—and our work at Bridges Academy is no exception.

We transformed their schoolyard into a green oasis for nearly 500 students and nearly 10,000 residents within a 10-minute walk to enjoy. Long gone is the endless expanse of pavement. In its place are trees, shade structures, a vibrant basketball court, and turf play field. A nature-play area featuring fruit trees, musical chimes, basket swings, and boulders, doubles as an outdoor classroom with natural log seating. The schoolyard at Bridges Academy creates a safe, shaded, and engaging environment for exploration, learning, and fun. Climate smart features foster environmental curiosity and stewardship, while trees and plants help mitigate the heat island effect as well as industrial and freeway pollution.

About This Project

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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