Space to Grow Partners Announce new Schoolyards for 2026

We are pleased to announce that four Chicago public schools, including the first high school, will receive new green schoolyards through Space to Grow in 2026. Schoolyard designs are beginning this month at Washington High School and Addams Elementary School (which will be redeveloped as a dual campus renovation) in the East Side community, Earhart Elementary School in Calumet Heights, and Moos Elementary School in Humboldt Park.

Space to Grow schoolyard transformations bring outdoor learning, active play, community connection, engagement with nature and much-needed shade and green stormwater infrastructure to school communities. The new schoolyards are prioritized in historically under-invested communities and bring safe green spaces to communities that face increased flooding and extreme heat due to climate change. When these schoolyards are completed, over 10% of all of Chicago’s neighborhood elementary schools will feature a Space to Grow schoolyard!

“Transforming a high school space gives us an opportunity to engage students in ways we haven’t before,” says Kenneth Varner, Healthy Schools Campaign’s Senior Community Engagement Manager. “We can ask more in-depth questions about community development, and directly tie the project to possible career paths and fields of study for these students.”

“This year marks an exciting milestone as we collaborate with our first high school. We look forward to broadening how we think about outdoor spaces for learning, health and belonging, while building on the powerful environmental justice work and leadership at George Washington High School,” says Emily Zhang, Healthy Schools Campaign’s Space to Grow Project Manager.

Space to Grow is an innovative partnership co-founded by Healthy Schools Campaign and Openlands to transform Chicago schoolyards into vibrant spaces for school and community use. 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.

Since its inception, Space to Grow has transformed 41 schoolyards into shared green spaces. The program addresses critical needs for play and park space, outdoor learning, recreation and community engagement, while also addressing local flooding with special design features like rain gardens, permeable surfaces and turf fields with underground storage.

Each schoolyard is designed through a collaborative and inclusive process, gathering input and ideas from students, parents and caregivers, teachers, school leaders and staff and community members to create spaces that reflect local needs and priorities.

Once these schoolyards open, the program will have 45 schoolyards across Chicago, with more on the way, each one helping to create healthier, greener, and more resilient neighborhoods. 

For more information, visit spacetogrowchicago.org and check out the program’s 10-year anniversary and impact report here.