With funding from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s (Cal Fire) Urban and Community Forestry Green Schoolyards Planning Grant Program, CWH led a community-led and nature-based green schoolyard design process at Miramonte Elementary School and seven other Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) school campuses. Located in Florence Firestone, Miramonte Elementary School’s proposed green schoolyard project addresses the urgent need for shaded, green spaces that provide students with nature-based play opportunities that support their learning and mental and physical health.
As part of our school community-led design process, CWH partnered with River in Action (RIA), a community-based organization in CWH’s ReDesignLA program that has longstanding ties to the school community, SALT Landscape Architects, which carried out the project’s landscape architecture and design, and Herrera Environmental Consultants, which contributed its civil engineering expertise. In partnership with LAUSD, CWH’s project team developed 50 percent conceptual designs for Miramonte’s green schoolyard project that reflect the needs and priorities RIA identified alongside the school community.
The proposed green schoolyard design focuses on asphalt removal and the addition of shade trees in student accessible areas of the campus. The design includes an outdoor learning area, a nature-based play area, edible school garden, a native habitat exploration area, and a micro-forest.
Project Benefits
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About the Project
CBO Partner
River in Action (RIA) is a place-based non-profit organization dedicated to providing environmental education programs for TK-5 youth in South Los Angeles. Since joining CWH’s ReDesignLA Program in 2022, RIA has connected its existing educational programming to build its capacity around community-led green infrastructure and pursue school greening projects at Miramonte Elementary and Edison Middle School in Florence-Firestone. Both schools are particularly personal to RIA’s Executive Director as she attended both schools growing up. In 2023, RIA worked diligently to build trust with teachers and school administrators at Miramonte Elementary School and successfully submitted an LAUSD SEEDS application in partnership with the school. In recognizing that students from Miramonte Elementary School feed into Edison Middle School, another school that lacks green space and tree canopy, RIA partnered with CWH to apply for a Cal Fire Green Schoolyards Planning grant to pursue school greening projects on both school campuses. By approaching school greening using a feeder school approach, students can experience the benefits of green schoolyards and the opportunity for corresponding curriculum opportunities that follow them throughout their academic journey.
As part of the Cal Fire planning grant, RIA led school community education, outreach, and engagement activities at Miramonte Elementary School in support of a school community-led nature-based design process that reached 50 percent design. Throughout the design process, RIA engaged students, parents, and teachers using surveys, presenting at three school assemblies, tabling at a school resource fair, and hosting a school design competition. As a result, RIA received 385 survey responses and 252 school design competition submissions. These strategies involved a variety of perspectives and informed SALT (the technical team) about the green schoolyard typologies most important to Miramonte’s school community and provided insight about areas most vulnerable to flooding and extreme heat. This process demonstrated the importance of involving groups with diverse perspectives, as doing so ensures that there is more than one champion supporting the project from beginning to end and beyond its completion.
RIA's staff leading an engaging student assembly about the importance of school greening and what a green schoolyard could look like at Miramonte.
RIA and SALT tabling at Miramonte Elementary's Resource Fair.
Student artwork submitted as part of RIA's student art competition which informed SALT's conceptual design process
RIA's staff leading an engaging student assembly about the importance of school greening and what a green schoolyard could look like at Miramonte.
Project Progress
Conceptual Design
During the Spring of 2024, RIA partnered with CWH and SALT to host a series of community engagement events and gather initial design input from students, teachers, and parents at Miramonte Elementary School. The series included surveys, in-class presentations, parent coffee and staff meeting presentations, and a school-wide student art competition. Through these activities, RIA educated Miramonte’s school community about school greening, introduced CWH’s Cal Fire grant, and gathered extensive input to inform SALT’s conceptual design process. RIA’s robust community engagement ensured that Miramonte’s needs, priorities, and vision were accurately reflected in their green schoolyard’s design.
Image Credit: SALT Landscape Architects
30% Design
At the 30% design phase, SALT transformed the initial conceptual design into detailed civil and landscape design documents that incorporated additional school community feedback received on the conceptual design. CWH and SALT also worked with PSOMAS, Pinnacle, and LAUSD staff to identify the location of underground utilities, conduct soil and asphalt testing, and perform other site analyses. During this process, SALT adjusted the schoolyard’s design to reflect what is technically feasible.
Image Credit: SALT Landscape Architects
50% Design
From the 30 to 50% design, SALT incorporated CWH and LAUSD’s technical feedback on the green schoolyard design and expanded the design to include more technical details. The technical changes incorporated into the final 50% design include, but are not limited to, demolition plans, civil engineering sheets that assess grading and drainage, irrigation plans, proposed plant palettes, and a drafted construction budget. SALT also created an updated design exhibit for RIA to share with Miramonte’s school community. In February of 2025, RIA shared project updates and Miramonte’s updated design exhibit with the Principal and School Community Coordinator in a one-on-one meeting and via a newsletter distributed to parents, teachers, and staff.
Image Credit: SALT Landscape Architects
Project Photos
View of lower schoolyard area with volleyball nets present and a large shade tree in the background.
View of playground with rubber matting located in main schoolyard area.
View of two large trees in the kindergarten schoolyard area.
View of lower schoolyard area with volleyball nets present and a large shade tree in the background.