Greening Schoolyards

Turning asphalt back into living ecosystems.

With 30+ school gardens and farms created in the past 10 years, we transform underutilized school land into outdoor classrooms, peaceful refuges, and production farms supplying district nutrition services.

A large group of children and adults cheers together under a tan shade sail in a mulched school garden.
A greened schoolyard, Washington Elementary
Systems challenge

Over the last few generations, schoolyards have been paved over with asphalt and concrete. Facilities departments are reluctant to bring green schoolyards back, mostly because of the ongoing cost and responsibility of maintenance. The benefits these projects bring to a school don't show up as income, so there's little incentive to make the investment.

Our approach

When we use green spaces to deliver high-quality, standards-based lessons, we give school leaders a reason to invest in them. Our educators involve the whole school community in caring for the space and coordinate with district maintenance, which turns a liability into a win.

By the numbers

30+ school gardens and farms created across the East Bay.past 10 years

20,000 sq ft of asphalt, lawn, and unused schoolyard space became green schoolyards.2025

2,700+ students are reached by new weekly outdoor education programs.2025

Students learn to care for the plants, and take pride and respect in the spaces they have cultivated. The areas where they garden are far more likely to be free of trash, graffiti.Kristian Hinz, principal, Edendale Middle (SLZUSD) · 2025 stakeholder survey
Our model

Three commitments on every project

1

Design for the school

No two schoolyards start the same way, so no two projects do either. We plan each space with the school's students, staff, and families, shaping it around their goals, their site, and the way they already learn and gather outdoors.

2

Local contractors

We build with small local contractors, not out-of-town crews. They know the community, they stay reachable long after a project wraps, and the investment stays in the neighborhood the school serves.

3

Programs that last

A green schoolyard is only worth building if it gets used. We pair every project with outdoor education, so the space carries classroom lessons, after-school time, and family events for years, instead of going quiet once it's built.

From the field
Before
Children scoop dark soil from a large mound into buckets beside a blacktop basketball court, caution tape strung nearby.
Day one on the blacktop
After
A wooden pergola shades an empty outdoor classroom, with plank benches on log rounds and lavender growing alongside.
An outdoor classroom in bloom
Adults and children in blue volunteer shirts build a wooden shade structure on a grassy lot beside houses.
Community build day
Young students eat small servings of greens with forks at picnic tables under a wooden shade structure.
Outdoor classroom in use

Bring this to your school.

Principals, PTAs, teachers, district staff: tell us about your campus and we'll talk through what's possible, from a first consultation to a full program.

Start a conversation

Fund this program.

Your gift keeps expert instructors, gardens, and fresh food at Title I schools across the East Bay.

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Our programs reinforce each other. Keep reading.Next: Fresh Food Access →