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Upcoming Events and Resources

The International School Grounds Alliance has just released a new 8 minute video, Voices from the International School Grounds Movement. The video includes interviews with individuals from seven countries who provide a wide variety of perspectives on the growing school ground movement around the world. For more information, click here. 

Interested in learning more about the growing movement toward green schoolgrounds in the United States and around the world? Click here to hear Jill Buck of Go Green Radio interview Sharon Danks, author of Asphalt to Ecosystems: Design Ideas for Schoolyard Transformation (New Village Press). Or click here to see Sharon Danks present a vibrant slideshow that takes us on a journey to explore the green schoolyard movement. 

What is San Francisco Green Schoolyard Alliance?

SFGSA is a regional support network for school communities working to transform their schoolyards into vibrant outdoor classrooms and thriving ecosystems. We advocate for greening at the school site, District, City, and State levels; provide professional development for teachers and parents; secure horticultural supplies and other resources for schools; and maintain a website and hotline for advice and troubleshooting needs.

How to Grow a School Garden: A Complete Guide for Parents and Teachers

By Arden Bucklin-Sporer and Rachel Pringle of SFGSA

"It's all here: developing the concept, planning, fund-raising, organizing, designing the space, preparing the site, working with parents and schools, teaching in the garden, planting, harvesting,     and even cooking, with kid-friendly recipes and year-round activities. Packed with strategies, to-do lists, sample letters, detailed lesson plans, and tricks of the trade from decades of experience developing school garden programs for grades K–8, this hands-on approach makes school garden projects accessible, inexpensive, and sustainable."   -Timber Press

Why Green School Grounds?

We believe that the environment that surrounds children as they learn is vital to how they perceive the world around them. Paved schoolyards are often chaotic environments that leave children with few opportunities for creative play and very little shade. Asphalt-covered schoolyards frequently make up a large portion of a school’s domain, yet they are rarely used for educational activities. Green schoolyards can substantially change the appearance of a school and its ecological impact on the surrounding community, as shown in the pictures below. With colorful plantings and creative use of space, green schoolyards offer expanded educational and recreational opportunities, shady nooks for teachers and students, and refuges for wild birds, butterflies, and other creatures. These outdoor learning and play environments can be great assets for the schools that invest the time and money to plan and build them.

(Written by Sharon Danks, SFGSA Founding Board Member)

From Grey to Green illustrates the transformation of schoolyards from flat, asphalt expanses into thriving outdoor classrooms and green spaces. Take a look and see what schools in San Francisco are doing to create naturalized play yards, school gardens, and stronger communities.

This video was produced by Rick Bacigalupi. www.bacipix.com