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Stormwater Schoolyards

Stormwater schoolyards prioritize multi-purpose infrastructure that delivers stormwater performance while enhancing children’s learning and play opportunities.

School districts are one of the largest land managers in every city across the United States. In California alone, more than 130,000 acres are managed by public school districts. San Francisco has identified schools as a critical partner to implementing green infrastructure citywide, understanding they provide a unique opportunity to manage stormwater while delivering significant co-benefits to students, teachers, and the community. Stormwater schoolyards improve our urban watershed management while also creating engaging, natural environments that add to the resilience of our neighborhoods and communities.

A rain garden at Robert Lewis Stevenson Elementary

Robert Louis Stevenson Stormwater Schoolyard

We have partnered with the San Francisco Unified School District to transform Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary School into our first stormwater schoolyard project. This pilot project showcases a large-scale demonstration of green infrastructure that is designed to manage stormwater while promoting active play and access to nature.

Fact Sheet and Planning Process

Living Schoolyards as Stormwater Infrastructure

image of the schoolyard at Bessie Carmichael school

We partnered with the San Francisco Unified School District and Green Schoolyards America to host Living Schoolyards as Stormwater Infrastructure week to explore how stormwater management goals can be successfully combined with children’s learning environments.

Stormwater design for children’s spaces is in its infancy in the United States, but has been more widely implemented in parts of Europe, including Germany. It is a complex undertaking to balance the technical needs of green infrastructure management with effectively designed, flexible and interactive children’s landscapes. In order to learn from experiences across the world, renowned architect Birgit Teichmann was invited to San Francisco to share her expertise about living schoolyard design for stormwater management. The below resources include videos of her technical training seminar and summaries of the workshop, documenting best practices and ideas on how to actualize Berlin’s design principles in San Francisco.