Transforming Our Schoolyard
Transforming Our Schoolyard
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A committed group of parents, Aldama staff (some who are both), students and community members are working on beautifying and improving the outdoor parts of our campus. We want to add more shade, plants and trees to create a more diverse ecosystem, more murals to inspire and outdoor learning spaces to make Aldama an even better place to play and learn!
National Park Service GrantÂ
In Spring 2023, the Aldama Green Team was awarded a National Park Service - Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program one-year partnership grant. We have worked with a mentor from NPS over the last year.Â
Grant Goals:
Create a master greening plan for Aldama
Identify funding sources
We surveyed our community!Â
As a part of the process we conducted a survey in English and Spanish. We asked students, parents, Aldama staff and other members of the community (like grandparents, aunts and uncles) to weigh in on how they use the schoolyard and what they would like to see change. Here’s what our community said:
Everyone agrees we need:
Water bottle refill stations
Space for both sports and quiet play
More shade, natural playspaces to climb, run, balance and jump
More trees and a butterfly garden
From Teachers:
More space to take students outside for learning opportunities
An outdoor, quiet break space
From Students:
85% of respondents said there is no shade or not enough shade on the schoolyard
54% enjoy active play, such as tag, soccer and using the apparatus. 38% would like creative activities such as gardening and art while 8% like quieter learning activities such as reading and outdoor classes
We have been busy.
In addition to the survey, Green Team members observed psycho motor (PE), recess and lunch over one week to see how and where the kids currently use the outdoor space at the school.
We presented to the School Site Council (SSC), the English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC), the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), the administrators and teaching staff, and the out of classroom staff (counselors, maintenance workers, cafeteria workers, etc.) to gather input and discuss the schoolyard. These conversations were in English and Spanish. We also got students’ feedback from every class at Aldama during PE.
And, we gave a site tour to Los Angeles City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who represents Aldama, and her staff to show them some of the issues our students face.
A long term project with many moving parts. Â
Greening a school campus is a long-term project. We will complete a campus plan for the outdoor areas by September 2024. Following the plan development, we will get input from members of the school community.
Priorities shift from year to year as needs are voiced by the current community (administration, teachers, staff, PTA, students and families). As priorities are identified and funding secured, an attainable project can begin. That timeline will be up to community input each year.
LAUSD SEEDS Program is first up for implementation!
The first space we are designing is the SEEDS garden area. In 2023, the Green Team was awarded $100,000 in funding from LAUSD that will go toward this space. We have proposed to create a new garden area in the upper playground and we are set to submit the design in 2024. Once we’ve submitted the design, Aldama will be on the LASUD waitlist for build out. This project could be completed in the next couple years.
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