The bare hot asphalt schoolyard of the American past is getting a redo.
The schoolyard of the future has trees to play under, or canvas canopies to shade a climbing gym. Some have native plants to sniff during recess or fallen logs to climb over. Instead of hard ground, some are tearing out asphalt in favor of more spongy materials to absorb heavy rains.
They are all solutions to tackle not only the hazards of extreme weather but also a growing recognition that playing in nature could be good for children.
Many of these innovations are happening in some of the hottest, most climate vulnerable parts of the country, like Arizona, which this summer endured over 100 consecutive days of 100-degree Fahrenheit temperatures, or California, where some schools closed early because of record high temperatures earlier this month.
The traditional schoolyard, with its hard grounds and usually a lack of shade, tends to act as a heat island. Among the country’s 527 large school districts, a majority of schools are hotter than their surrounding areas, according to an analysis by Trust for Public Land, which helps schools retrofit play areas.
The surface of asphalt playgrounds are like frying pans, significantly hotter than air temperatures, and because little kids are closer to the ground, they are exceptionally vulnerable. Their bodies are less able than adults to regulate temperature extremes.
But reimagining a campus for a hotter climate costs money, and schools are already struggling to pay for basic supplies. “You plant more trees, you need more gardeners. You put in more irrigation, you need more plumbers,” said Sailaja Suresh, who runs operations for Oakland United School District, one of the districts that’s retrofitting its schoolyards with trees and shade sails.
Blue Canopies and Water
The Mesa, Ariz. school district is accustomed to extreme heat, which is also what makes it among the most creative in coping with extreme heat.
Recess, when it can take place outdoors, is early in the morning. Giant blue canvas shade structures have been erected in schoolyards. Pick-up areas, where children and teachers wait every afternoon, in peak heat, are also shaded. There are water stations in the sports fields and provisions including ice baths to cool down quickly.
This year, the region broke heat records. “It’s still so hot!” Debra Pangrazi, who heads physical education for the district’s elementary schools, said in mid-September. “These are kids who don’t cool as efficiently as adults.”
At one elementary school near Phoenix, Allison Poulos, an assistant professor at Arizona State University, said she watched a teacher blow the whistle every 5 minutes to stop a football game for water breaks. It was 12:30pm, and 103 degrees Fahrenheit outside.
The Heat Ready Schools project she works on at Arizona State recommends that schoolyards be more than 50 percent shaded during the hottest hours.
Sixteen Crepe Myrtles
“A heat sink,” said Rekha Viswanathan.
“Hot and stark,” said Cameron Coates. “Not inviting.”
Ms. Viswanathan and Mr. Coates are both parents of kindergarteners, and this is how they described the asphalt play area for the youngest students at Laurel Elementary School in Oakland.
Even the classrooms would heat up. A dozen heat complaints were filed with school officials over the past year.
So when the principal, John Stangl, said the school had raised money to renovate the grounds, Ms. Viswanathan and Mr. Coates lobbied for shade. Last year, 16 crepe myrtles were planted around the play area for the 4- and 5-year-olds.
Laurel is one of 15 schoolyard retrofits underway in the district, a fraction of the district’s 80 campuses. Private donations have defrayed much of the costs, which range from $750,000 to $1.3 million.
This year, California became one of the first states to set aside money for schoolyard heat relief. So far nearly $150 million has been allocated.
A Welcoming Schoolyard
Just west of downtown Los Angeles, the Jose A. Castellanos charter school is sandwiched between the Interstate 10 and a busy thoroughfare that cuts across the city. There are a lot of cars and car fumes, and just behind the school, a narrow street lined with the vans and tents of the unhoused.
A row of palm trees stand like toothpicks. Shade trees are rare in this neighborhood, and playgrounds even less so.
For many years, the Castellanos schoolyard was like most in the city: big and bare.
Today, Western redbud shrubs have been planted, with their promise of showoff pink-purple flowers. Native walnut and oak were put in for shade. Now, kids can spread out and play in different parts of the schoolyard; teachers can give lessons on native plants, said the principal, Jay Laughlin.
Mr. Laughlin said his staff wasn’t concerned only about weather. They wanted to make the school more attractive. “Our goal was that our students would want to be here more,” he said.
He has been pleasantly surprised. Since the schoolyard renovations, there’s been an uptick in attendance. And while he is reluctant to credit the trees entirely, he intends to take care of the greenery. “We have to make sure we water it,” he said.
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