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The Washington Post: Why Schools Are Ripping Up Playgrounds across the U.S.
As temperatures and climate impacts rise, the need to replace asphalt playgrounds with trees, shade, and nature-rich play areas is urgent. A recent article in The Washington Post celebrates how Trust for Public Land is partnering with communities to transform schoolyards into greener, safer spaces.
By Jessie Palatucci
Published September 17, 2024
Community Schoolyards® are more than play spaces—they enhance student health, support learning, and provide essential park space for everyone in their communities outside of school hours. As heat waves and severe storms become more common, our mission to transform asphalt playgrounds into cool, shaded, and nature-filled areas is more critical than ever.
Trust for Public Land’s Community Schoolyards® work was recently featured in the The Washington Post. The story follows the staff at Southwark Elementary School, one of more than a dozen Philadelphia schools where TPL has partnered on projects.
The article gets right to the core of why this work is so critical right now:
“Activists and parents have long worked, school by school, to turn asphalt playgrounds into islands of greenery. But as climate change sends temperatures soaring, the movement to replace heat-absorbing pavement around schools has gained urgency. School districts, cities and states are increasingly taking up the cause, spurred by research showing that asphalt play areas — many of which were installed decades ago — magnify the health risks of extreme heat.”
We know this work is essential. These community-driven projects are critical to improving student education outcomes, public health, and climate resiliency. The impact can be seen in the smiles on the children’s faces as they play, climb, and learn on Southwarks’ playground and in Community Schoolyards® across the U.S.
As temperatures rise, our efforts to transform communities with the trees, shade structures, and nature-rich play areas that define these special spaces are more urgent than ever. Our work isn’t complete until every schoolyard offers these vital benefits.
Look Closer: Playground Renovation. Community Transformation
Across the country, we are lending our experience and expertise to ensure that our Community Schoolyards® projects stay true to the community’s vision, boost their climate resilience, and put a high-quality park within a 10-minute walk of hundreds or even thousands of people.
Watch the transformation at Bregy Elementary School in South Philadelphia.
Rising temperatures, bigger storms, and asphalt schoolyards pose significant risks during recess. Urge Congress to prioritize schoolyards that cool neighborhoods, manage stormwater, and provide opportunities for kids to connect with nature today!
Renovated schoolyards have climate superpowers. Specially landscaped gardens and porous surfaces absorb stormwater and prevent flooding, and trees cool down play spaces and surrounding areas. Yet our research finds that 36% of public school students nationwide attend school on a heat island. This has a direct negative impact on learning and the community’s climate resilience. We’re working to change that.
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