Green Schoolyards

What is a Green Schoolyard?

An outdoor classroom is a designated area outside the school building with adequate shade and seating for students and staff to experience an environment-forward curriculum. This includes but is not limited to school gardens, naturescapes, and tree canopy.

"Designed with and for the school community, Green Schoolyards are shared outdoor spaces can also be enjoyed by kids, families and neighbors during out-of-school time. Green Schoolyards can be designed to meet your community’s needs. They can include outdoor classrooms, native gardens, stormwater capture, traditional playground equipment, nature play areas, vegetable gardens, trails, trees, water features, and more."

Benefits of Green Schoolyards

What else can schools do to be more sustainable?

• Pass a school board climate resolution
• Improve energy efficiency
• School electrification
• Clean energy use
• Improve indoor and outdoor air and water quality
• Reduce exposure to environmental health hazards
• Cleaner school transportation
• Build resilience to climate change hazards

Green Umbrella's Green Schoolyards Action Network is a team of educators, organizations, public agencies, and volunteers working across local public school systems to expand greenspace, environmental education, and farm-to-school opportunities to K-12 students and educators across our region. The Network works across Greater Cincinnati to:

• Ensure every school has the resources & tools for nature-based learning, exploration, and play
• Advocate for environmental education to be integrated into K-12 curricula
• Expose students to environmental, nature-based, and agriculture-focused employment opportunities
• Engage school neighborhood communities in the design and use of greenspaces
• Establish professional development opportunities so educators feel comfortable and confident with outdoor learning
• Partner with other Green Umbrella programs and partners to advance energy efficiency, electrification, resilience and more at schools

To learn more, visit the Green Schoolyards Action Network website.