Green Schoolyards America

Green Schoolyards America is a national organization that partners with school districts and public agencies across the U.S. to establish large-scale living schoolyard programs that transform asphalt-covered school grounds into ecologically-rich, park-like green spaces. Our goal is to improve children’s health, learning, and happiness while contributing to communities’ ecological and climate resilience. We are working to change the norm for school ground design, use, and management so all children will have access to the natural world in the places they already visit on a daily basis. We center equity in our work and collaborate with communities that have the greatest need for educational, environmental, health, and open space improvements. We take a systems approach to transforming school grounds by helping educational institutions develop comprehensive, district-wide green schoolyard programs with strong connections to local sustainable-city planning efforts, regional ecosystems, educational standards and children’s health. We provide resources, training, and support for pre-K-12 school districts and help them develop site specific support systems, programs and operational strategies to adopt and sustain green schoolyards over time. We strongly support student and school community participation in schoolyard design, construction and stewardship. Green Schoolyards America facilitates public dialogue about innovative research, design, education and policy that fosters partnerships between professionals and organizations across the USA and around the globe. Our programs include national and international projects on- and offline that promote the green schoolyard movement, build relationships that help it succeed and embed this paradigm shift in our existing institutions and national policy and regulatory frameworks. Green Schoolyards America is fiscally sponsored by Earth Island Institute, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.