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Georgia Community Schoolyards® Projects
What We’re Doing
Transforming existing schoolyards into safe and inspiring green spaces that are open to the public as community parks after school hours.
Our Goal
Close Georgia’s outdoor equity gap by making outdoor space more accessible to residents, especially children.
Access to the outdoors is a fundamental human need and communities are happier, healthier, and more resilient when we all can get outside and engage with nature. But in too many communities, especially in lower income and communities of color, access to the outdoors is out of reach. In fact, one in four Atlanta residents don’t have a park within a 10-minute walk of home.
But what if there was a solution to closing the park equity gap sitting in plain sight?
Through our Georgia Community Schoolyards program, we’re reimagining schoolyards into vibrant, modern parks where children and community members can gather, play, explore, and soak up the benefits of time spent outside—even after school hours.
We’ve partnered with Atlanta Public Schools, Urban Land Institute Atlanta, and Park Pride to improve schoolyards across the city and have already transformed eight schoolyards with nine more underway.
By working closely with students, teachers and neighbors, we’re building spaces that meet the needs of the entire community and connect more people to the joys and benefits of the outdoors.
Swapping out blacktops for trees, gardens, and up-to-date play equipment delivers an abundance of benefits to students, from emotional to academic. See where we’re making a difference with Community Schoolyards®️ projects across Georgia.
We envision a future where community schoolyards become a standard practice across the state. Our work in Atlanta demonstrates how game-changing these green spaces can be for entire communities.
Atlanta Public Schools is one of the city’s largest landowners, with almost 90 schools and over 50,000 students. By transforming schoolyards into vibrant, nature-rich parks, we can improve education, health, equity, and climate outcomes for students, families, and neighbors in the communities that need it most.
Help support our work in Georgia by making a donation today.
600 West Peachtree St. NW
Suite 1840
Atlanta, GA, 30308
(404) 873-7306
georgia@tpl.org
470-571-1814
George.Dusenbury@tpl.org
