Students, teachers and neighbors celebrate schoolyards transformations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts
Huan Song, Vice President of External Affairs
hsong@openlands.org
(312) 863-6153
Claire Marcy, Healthy Schools Campaign
claire@healthyschoolscampaign.org
(773) 456-1745
CHICAGO,IL – (November 19, 2025) Space to Grow, Chicago’s green schoolyard program, cut the ribbon on five newly transformed Chicago Public Schools (CPS) schoolyards on the city’s South Side. Each ribbon-cutting ceremony featured student performances, community celebrations, and remarks from school leaders, partners, and public officials. These openings mark an important milestone as Space to Grow commemorated its 10-year anniversary, with 41 completed schoolyards across Chicago.
Space to Grow is an innovative partnership co-founded by Healthy Schools Campaign and Openlands to transform Chicago schoolyards into vibrant community spaces while addressing neighborhood flooding. The program is made possible through capital funding, leadership and expertise provided by Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Department of Water Management, the Chicago Department of Environment, and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
Before the transformations, these schoolyards were largely paved with asphalt, offering limited opportunities for kids to play safely, outdoor learning and even connection to nature. “Our mission is to connect people with nature in ways that inspire and endure, and this mission comes to life in every corner of these new spaces that welcome both students and neighbors,” said Michael Davidson, President and CEO of Openlands. “These are not just schoolyards, they are places for connection, discovery and creativity where kids can thrive.” Today, the redesigned schools provide students with vibrant and engaging outdoor environments that include sports fields, outdoor classrooms, green stormwater infrastructure, permeable surfaces, and nature exploration areas.
Each schoolyard is designed through a collaborative and inclusive process, gathering input from the school and the community to ensure each space reflects local needs and priorities. “We know that students, staff, parents, caregivers and neighbors are key ingredients to a healthy and successful school,” said Jennifer Tani, President and CEO at Healthy Schools Campaign. “The community not only helped design the schoolyard but has committed to use and maintain this beautiful new space.”
At Emmett Till Fine & Performing Arts School in West Woodlawn, students now enjoy a vibrant playground, native gardens and an outdoor classroom that supports hands-on learning and exploration.
In Auburn Gresham, William H. Ryder Math & Science Specialty School features a redesigned space with a shade structure, musical play elements, and a track and turf field to encourage movement and play among students.
At James Farmer Jr. Elementary School and Irvin C. Mollison IB World Elementary School in Bronzeville, the new schoolyards include a basketball court, a turf field, nature-play areas and vibrant green gathering spaces to support students’ well-being.
In South Shore, the transformed schoolyard at Myra Bradwell School of Excellence brings the students and the community together through a Journey of Water theme woven throughout the playground, outdoor seating and a performance stage. “Let our school be an embodiment of joy where we can laugh, cry, share and create memories,” shared Armani West, a student at Bradwell who wrote a poem to commemorate the occasion. “Let our school be a place where we build leaders with bear-bright minds, bold and unbreaking.”
Green stormwater infrastructure plays a central role in these redesigned playgrounds, helping schools and neighborhoods manage heavy rainfall while reducing flooding. Features such as permeable surfaces, rain gardens, bioswales, native plantings, and turf fields with underground storage capture and absorb stormwater where it falls. Collectively, Space to Grow schoolyards engage with more than 10,000 students through hands-on, nature-based education. These essential neighborhood green infrastructure can capture 8.7 million gallons of stormwater per rain event, helping to mitigate flooding in Chicago’s South, Southwest and West Side neighborhoods.
These new schoolyards not only strengthen Chicago’s climate resilience but also provide multifunctional spaces that support students’ health and wellness, outdoor learning, connection to nature, active play and community engagement. Together, these green spaces demonstrate what is possible when communities, public agencies, and organizations come together with a shared vision for healthier, greener and more resilient neighborhoods across Chicago.
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About Openlands
Founded in 1963, Openlands protects the natural and open spaces of northeastern Illinois and the surrounding region to ensure cleaner air and water, protect natural habitats and wildlife, and help balance and enrich our lives. Openlands works across areas to advance nature-based solutions to climate change, improve the health and well-being of communities, and create a more verdant region for all. For more information, please visit www.openlands.org
About Healthy Schools Campaign
Healthy Schools Campaign is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making schools healthier places where children can learn and thrive. This work is at the intersection of health, education, equity and sustainability, supporting health and learning in under-invested schools through on-the-ground work and advocacy at the local, state and national levels. Healthy Schools Campaign succeeds in these efforts by recognizing parents, caregivers and a diverse set of school stakeholders as leaders and advocates in school health, ensuring programs are rooted in community and designed to be equitable and reflective of the communities served.
