Sustain or expand your green schoolyard

SFUSD requires that school communities maintain designated green schoolyard areas on school grounds. While students and teachers may conduct some basic maintenance as part of the school day, garden days are usually necessary to conduct the maintenance and upkeep necessary to keep a green schoolyard thriving. These garden maintenance days can also serve as excellent opportunities to build community at schools.

Read about how to plan and host a garden maintenance day.

Green Schoolyards can manifest in many ways including gardens, nature play or seating areas, outdoor classrooms, and tree plantings. Many, but not all, of these green schoolyard elements may require the removal of asphalt on a school yard, construction, and/or installation of something on school grounds (garden beds, storage sheds, cisterns, pathways, etc.). However, creating a green schoolyard element can also be as basic as identifying a space that is currently empty and planning to plant up and maintain this space.

If you are planning to propose any of these scenarios to establish any new green schoolyard element or space that the school community will maintain, please read about the process for how to create, expand, or improve a green schoolyard.

New to green schoolyards or need a refresher? Read through the top ten reminders for green schoolyards at SFUSD.