Join the Community of Practice for Schoolyard Forests

Across the country, children of all ages attend school on grounds with acres of asphalt and grass, and very few trees to provide shade or protection from increasing heat and a shifting climate. It’s time to change that! 

We are embarking on a decades-long initiative to address this problem. In 2022, as a first piece of this bold vision, Green Schoolyards America, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), the California Department of Education, and Ten Strands launched the California Schoolyard Forest System℠, a statewide initiative that seeks to create schoolyard forests across PK-12 public school grounds statewide to directly shade and protect students from extreme heat and rising temperatures due to climate change. In the future, we envision Schoolyard Forest Systems in every state, collaboratively established with local partner organizations and state agencies.

As part of this work, we are convening an open and welcoming monthly discussion forum for school districts, county offices of education, and public agencies in California and around the country to share information as they move forward with establishing schoolyard forests at scale. Our goal is to provide support and to build a collegial “community of practice” and national network to strengthen these efforts. We also welcome tree planting organizations, landscape architects, and others from anywhere in the world who support school districts in this work.

For more detailed meeting information, including schedule, format, and link to register, click the button below!