The Schoolyard: A Space for School and Neighbourhood Communities

Abstract

The schoolyard is an important resource for learning and training. However, this space can host other functions that can be useful not only to the school community but also to the neighbourhood and to its environmental resilience. This chapter proposes a useful approach for designing outdoor spaces—especially in the lower secondary school—devoted to educational and recreational activities, as well as sports. The connection of topics and training programs to space requirements for accommodating these particular outdoor lessons leads to relate the elements present on the site and consider them in both the classroom design and the educational issues. Moreover, once the teaching activity is over, this space can become a public space open to the community, especially in those cases where urban spaces are scarce and poorly equipped. Despite the fact that critical aspects could emerge especially with regard to maintenance and security, existing examples show that these initiatives—when properly regulated—offer opportunities for both the community and the school. Finally, the school’s outdoor space, which can often be one of the few permeable areas of the neighbourhood, can be the right place to implement some microclimatic adaptation measures, useful to improve the neighbourhood’s environmental resilience. Nine sheets at the end of the paper describe nine different best practices about the way to cope with the schoolyard use.

Appendix

Best Practices of Schoolyards Renovation in Nine Sheets

The methodology proposed in the paper to improve the schoolyards use and to encourage outdoor activities is based on some experiences recently developed around the world. In particular, some best practices have been selected as it is possible to recognize some reproducible aspects that can fit in different contexts and for the activities considered important to carry out especially for those linked to the school subjects. The majority of the selection derived from the Boston Schoolyard Initiative experience, an approach that developed a sort of a codification of the elements in the space, especially for the outdoor classroom.

How these sheets can be useful for us? They are very inspiring example; it is first of all important to carefully observe the masterplan and the projects of the schoolyards to convince us that lot of things can be done in the schoolyards that are a resource of the majority of the schools. But if we are already convinced about the potencial role of the schoolyardst,he sheets can help us to define the elements necessary toallow the activities and how they can be linked to the different school subjects, sport included and relax, also for the extra didactic activities.

It is possible to find at least three topics: didactic activities, play and relax and environmental resilience and education. The nine sheets, developed by the author and A. Bellomo, are arranged with the same layout, consisting in a first row in which are listed all the possible activities possible to carry out in the schoolyard and where is put in evidence what kind of activities are possible to carry out in that particular schoolyard described in the sheet. The activities considered are recreational, lecture, sport, cultivation, observation from life, workshop and extracurricular activities. Below is reported a key plan that put in evidence the location of the school and on the right the plan where are located the different activities present in the schoolyard. Some pictures show the masterplan and the plan of the schoolyard, and different realized places and elements that demonstrate how the space with some characteristics can host the activities.

As written in the paper, the space should have the right requirements to allow the activities to be carried out. For this reason, in the second page there is a table, for each school, with the description of the spatial configuration in terms of horizontal and vertical limits, the presence of important elements, like storage, furniture (moveable or fix, like seats or tables), shading devices and sport equipment. The vegetation is described in terms of shading device, vegetable garden (in the ground or in raised flower beds) sometimes for edible production, and/or arboreal and herbaceous for observation from life especially for art and science subjects. Vegetation, usually with the water, is considered also for the environmental resilience.

Not all the selected school take into account all the activities, and not all the activities require specific elements. For instance, schoolyards that work as urban space, open to the community, allow to share the elements like seats and shading device or playing and sport area, in common with the recreational activity provided in all the schools. This is what occurs in particular for the Marin and Willie Brown schools in California.

The area for the sport in outdoor is provided everywhere, even if sometimes there is not an accurate information in the sheets. Usually, a basketball court, and/or baseball or football or the athletic circuit are realized. This is the case of the Marin, the Lyndon, the Thomas Edison, the Sidwell friends and the Mario Umana schools.

The lecture activity in outdoor is considered in each schoolyard and this is linked to the design of the outdoor classroom, that, especially for the BSI approach has to take into account the presence of a wooden or metallic fence, an entrance gate, different pavement materials that differentiate paths from the other areas, the presence of a structure for storage, tables and different kind of seating according to different materials availability and the functions. Also, the didactic garden, important topic of the didactic activity that we find in all the schools is usually realized in raised flower beds sometimes with side sliding doors to allow students to observe what happen inside the ground, as we find in the Lyndon school.

Natural elements have been used also for environmental education; in particular, in the Sidwell school, rain gardens and ponds are successfully used for understanding the water cycle (beyond to guarantee the climate adaptation) and sewage treatments. Water collecting strategies are taken into account in other schools, like the Marin and Willie Brown schools.

Other elements, like solar panels or tools to measure climatic parameters like wind direction and velocity, solar radiation and air temperature are implemented in other schools, for instance, the Marin, the Lyndon, the Curley, the Tomas Edison and the Sidwell. Sometimes garden roof on the top of the storage is used to better understand the water behaviour in case of strong rainfall, as in the Lyndon and the Thomas Edison schools.

Very interesting to observe is the way some schools coped with the topic of environmental resilience, usually solved with the use of permeable paved surfaces and rainwater gardens, like the Willie Brown and the Lyndon schools. The Sidwell school has redesigned the schoolyard taking into account the condition of heavy rainfall. In this case, the roof garden, the pond in the yard, as well as a rain garden should work adequately. In case of extreme rainfall, the water from the roof garden and the rain garden would be channelled to the pond, that, once full up, canalizes the water to the municipal external drainage system.

Spatial configuration
Horizontal limits	W O C L	Mixed materials: asphalt for the most extensive surfaces and connecting paths between the areas, marks stone steps, walkways in wooden planks (treated for outdoor use) Wood shavings at the equipped play areas. Coloured asphalt for the basketball court and synthetic turf for the soccer field
Vertical limits	O C L R	Metal perimeter fence with two artistic entrance gates Stacked tree trunks for the formation of corridors
Storage	O C	Structure of modest dimensions with a green roof
Sport equipment
Furniture		Fixed R Picnic tables, benches in recycled plastic and metal elements for floor fixing, informal stone and wooden logs. Rustic steps in stone curbs for the exhibition area, rods for the support of possible curtains for theatrical performances
		Movable O L Seating for short meetings, in wooden logs in vegetated area dedicated to the observation from life
Shading devices		Vegetation
		Other
Didactic garden	C	Raised flower beds for plant growth. Water intake. Excavation zones
Environmental education	C	Roof garden. Wind direction indicator
Vegetation	C O	Arboreal, herbaceous and bush-like essences grouped in thematic areas simulating various natural landscapes: wetlands, meadows, highland forests
Garden production
Environmental resilience
Reference	ICON parks design, Boston www.iconparks.com Boston Schoolyard Initiative (BSI) www.schoolyards.org/

1. The project includes an outdoor classroom for the activities related to the vegetable garden and workshops, an area for the exhibitions, one for the exploration and two equipped space for the practice of more sports activities in a limited space. The large pre-existing asphalted surfaces have been partially converted into permeable areas planted adjacent to the exhibition area, and in part, they have been improved by adding coloured signs for their better recognition (see Figs. 4 and 8)

Spatial configuration
Horizontal limits	L O R S	Flooring in concrete and wood for outdoor use Coloured concrete. Synthetic grass (which also allows drainage of rainwater)
Vertical limits		Buildings, metal fence
Storage		Positioned at one entrances to the outdoor classroom, it is also used for demonstrations in environmental education
Sport equipment		Sport field for the game of basketball, athletics circuit
Furniture		Fixed
		Movable L Wooden chairs, wooden tables for laboratory activities, blackboards
Shading devices		Vegetation L Tall trees
		Other
Didactic garden	C O	Raised flower beds for the growth and harvest of plants also edible. Along the scientific path, stones of different composition have been placed according to the Fibonacci series
Environmental education	O	The deposit has, in part, a green roof and is connected to drainpipe used to collect rainwater. The same structure is flanked by a wooden armature (door to the outdoor classroom) equipped with a solar panel to light up the deposit and instruments to measure some microclimatic variables (air temperature and wind direction)
Vegetation	O	Herbaceous and bushy plants selected to recreate native natural habitats
Garden production
Environmental resilience
Reference	Warner Larson Landscape Architects www.warnerlarson.com

1. The school building, dating back to the 1920s, is now home to 750 students, including primary school and k8. The project has redesigned the schoolyard, identifying thematic areas: areas of Science and Art, for sports and recreational activities. The location of the new functions took into account the use of the internal space of the adjacent building. The outdoor class, for example, is located at the wing dedicated to the Sciences. The Basketball court is located by eliminating parking spaces while the play area has been expanded providing facilities suitable for older students who previously had only one paved area available

Spatial configuration
Horizontal limits	W O C L R S	Mixed materials: stone slabs for the paths between the vegetation (for scientific observation), wooden bark and asphalt for the paths connecting the different areas. Rubber surfaces at play equipment. Coloured asphalt with decorations for play and sporting activities
Vertical limits	O C L	Metal perimeter fence with entrance gate
Storage	W O C	Located under a wooden work table with opening doors
Sport equipment
Furniture		Fixed W O C Wooden benches. Sitting in stone boulders in the shade for group work. Work table above the deposit
		Movable L Sessions-wood logs, white board for classroom lessons
Shading devices		Vegetation Tall trees, in correspondence with the paths and fixed seats for the activity in small groups
		Other
Didactic garden	C O	Raised beds built with wooden planks containing the culture substrate. Water intake
Environmental education
Vegetation	C O	Herbaceous and bushy essences for scientific observation
Garden production
Environmental resilience
Reference	CBA Landscape Architects LLC www.cbaland.com Boston Schoolyard Initiative http://www.schoolyards.org/

Spatial configuration
Horizontal limits	W O C L R R S	Asphalt for extended surfaces and connecting paths between the areas, marks stone steps. Rubber surfaces (67% recycled material) at play equipment. Asphalt surfaces coloured for the half-field for the game of football and basketball, numerical table, game of the four squares
Vertical limits	O C L	Metal perimeter fence with an entrance gate. The gate has two doors and opens only on half, in order to force students to slow down to enter and highlight that they are entering a classroom
Storage	O C	Structure of modest dimensions with a garden roof. On the metal doors, there is a sign with the map of the garden and the list of existing plants and a white board for annotations
Sport equipment	S R	Half a field for five-a-side football and basketball Structures (75% recycled material). Game tables (recycled and recycled plastics)
Furniture		Fixed O L Sitting on boulders in local stone. R Benches
		Movable O L Sittings on wooden logs for meetings and lectures R Wooden tables, also for the game
Shading devices		Vegetation Tall plants, in correspondence with the paths for scientific observation
Didactic garden		Raised flower beds for plant growth. The wooden soil containment structure has a sliding door which allows the roots of the plants to be observed behind a glass. Water intake
Environmental education	C	Garden roof with rain gauge (at the deposit) Wind direction indicator. Temperature thermometers on wooden poles near the flowerbeds
Vegetation	C O	Arboreal, herbaceous and bushy essences in thematic areas. Lawn areas. Trees and bushy plants in other external areas. Use of native plants
Garden production
Environmental resilience	O C	Permeable surface to reduce the run-off
Reference	CBA Landscape Architects LLC www.cbaland.com Boston Schoolyard Initiative www.schoolyards.org/

Selection of plants

Spatial configuration
Horizontal limits	W L O C	Wooden blocks for the paths with higher frequency and the outdoor classroom
Vertical limits	L O C	Wooden perimeter fence toward internal areas and the street
Storage
Sport equipment	S	Baseball Field, Basketball Court
Furniture		Fixed L X Sitting on concrete steps in the amphitheatre area, sitting on stone boulders, sitting in the outdoor class
		Movable O L Sitting on wooden logs for meetings and lectures
Shading devices		Vegetation L Protection of the area for lectures
		Other X Tenso-structure for the amphitheatre area
Didactic garden	C O	Raised flower beds for plant growth
Environmental education	O W	Pond for scientific observation, cistern for collecting rainwater, composting, instruments for measuring microclimatic variables, solar panels
Vegetation	C O	Arboreal, herbaceous and bushy essences for scientific observation
Garden production
Environmental resilience
Reference	Miller Company Landscape Architects http://www.millercomp.com

1. The K8 School of this comprehensive school provides a wide educational activity in outdoor spaces, located to the north of the built area, with excellent sun exposure. Activities related to organic farming aim to make students aware of the impacts of crops on the environment. In addition to growing organic horticultural products and flowers, there is a composting centre with solar panels. The educational activity includes the scientific observation of the life cycles of wild flora and fauna at the pond, the process of natural decomposition, the water cycle, and the effects of insects and pollution on the ground, as well as the survey of some environmental parameters through meteorological measuring instruments. Outdoor activity can also consist in the simple harvesting of berries, sowing and germination seeds, the compost sieve, painting, writing poetry. Even disciplines such as Art and Music, math take into account outdoor lessons in their curriculum

Spatial configuration
Horizontal limits	L O R	Paving in stone slabs of recovery, in treated wood for outdoor and stone (for external stairs) Synthetic grass to reduce the maintenance of the carpet
Vertical limits		Buildings
Storage
Sport equipment		Sport camp built on underground car parks. Minibasket field adjacent to the K8 school
Furniture		Fixed L sitting on stone blocks
		Movable
Didactic garden	C O	Rain-garden, raised flower beds for the growth and harvest of plants also edible
Environmental education	O	Sustainable strategies are integral part of the educational curriculum: pond and rain-garden for the observation and study of the water cycle and the containment of the run-off; wetlands for the observation of the vegetation and the sewage treatment cycle of the waste water from the building recovered for use in the toilet flushing boxes (93% of water saving compared to other schools); use of recycled and renewable materials for the routes, solar panels on the roof and instruments for measuring meteorological data
Vegetation	O	Aromatic herbaceous and bushy essences typical of wetlands for scientific observation. Aquatic plants in the pond. Plants selected for the purification of black water from building’s sinks
Garden production	C	The plants cultivated by students in the outdoor class on the roof garden are the vegetables and herbs eaten in the school canteen
Environmental resilience		– Rain-water gardens adjacent to the pond. During heavy rains, excess pond water flows into the rain garden to leach into the ground. In case of very heavy rainfall, the surplus is conveyed to the municipal external drainage system – The roof garden helps to contain the run-off by letting the water flow very slowly, water is collected and directed towards the pond – Purification of black waters through the wetland
Reference	Andropogon Associates LTD www.andropogon.com

1. The Sidwell school is a private K8 school, located within a school complex that also includes a high school. The intervention on external spaces was conceived in synergy with the redevelopment and expansion of existing buildings by providing design solutions aimed at ensuring the overall sustainability of the school complex also for educational purposes. The project has obtained the LEED “Platinum” certification. Particular attention has been given to the recycling of rainwater coming from the garden roof, and of the drainage of the building undergoing a process of purification along a path of terraced planted before being used in the toilets of buildings. The rainwater from the roof is also treated through a system of waterfalls before being placed in the rain-garden and in the permanent pond. Some water is collected in an underground cistern to ensure the constant level during periods of drought. The water collection system is completely visible to the students. They can visualize the passage of water from the roof towards the pond, as well as devoting themselves to the study of the plants responsible for purifying the water coming from the building. It is expected that the garden plants can be cut for art lessons. Many of the materials used for the routes are recyclable or recycled (e.g. regenerated wood from the port of Baltimore, or from wine barrels). All stone floors are recycled. A plaque shows its origin and renewability of each material

Spatial configuration
Horizontal limits	W O C L S R	Mixed materials: asphalt for the most extensive surfaces and connection routes between the areas, stone markings, wooden planks. Asphalt has been selected to make the area accessible for disable people Rubber surfaces are in the play area where students are expected to climb Coloured asphalt (with paints that are used for tennis courts added to the mix) with decorations for the game and sports activities, as there are many students on a limited area. Paving in concrete slabs for the skate area
Vertical limits	W O C L	Metal perimeter fence with an entrance gate
Storage	W C
Sport equipment		Baskets for two basketball courts. Concrete ramps for the skate
Furniture		Fixed
		Movable O W L Seatings for temporary lessons (of science, art or writing) or meetings; work tables for laboratory activities, seatings in wooden logs in correspondence of the vegetated area for the observation
Shading devices		Vegetation Tall plants, in correspondence with the paths for scientific observation
		Other
Didactic garden		Raised flower beds built with wooden boards to contain the culture substrate and drainage on the edge. The raised flower beds are of different heights in order to adapt to the different heights of the growing students and to be used even by students on a wheelchair. Fixed wooden benches. Vegetable gardens at ground level with perimeteral drainage. Water intake
Environmental education	C	Wind direction indicator. a small bridge made of wooden boards with edges (for safety in the case of a wheelchair transit) on a drainage area to educational observe how water flows after strong weather. Human sundial, map of the celestial vault
Vegetation	C O	Herbaceous and bushy essences for scientific observation
Garden production
Environmental resilience
Reference	CBA Landscape Architects LLC www.cbaland.com Boston Schoolyard Initiative http://www.schoolyards.org/

1. It is a school that includes students of 40 different nationalities, with different languages, religions, different ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
2. The renovation project of the outdoor areas has taken into account four main objectives:
3. 1. create an area for running and provide equipment for play in separate areas to develop motoric skills;
4. 2. provide an outdoor classroom where children could have a direct experience and study nature. Outdoor classes can be used for science, art and writing lessons;
5. 3. provide specific routes for buses inside the site for the safe collection of children;
6. 4. to create skate areas, replacing the old ones, for the students and for the boys of the neighborhood (the area is located in the area accessible from the main road).
7. The equipment for the sports and play area has been identified working with teachers and administrators. Some of the game equipment has been chosen to encourage specific motor skills, such as small rope structures where students can climb. The graphic on the ground was conceived both for sport activities and for other didactic purposes (written with distance measurements, globe, compass, human meridian, sky vault, numerical table and compass). The outdoor class includes sowing in specific raised flower beds

Spatial configuration
Horizontal limits	W R O C L	Paving in blocks of concrete
Vertical limits		Metal perimeter fence toward the streets
Storage
Sport equipment
Furniture		Fixed L X Seats on concrete steps in the amphitheater area, seats on a wall in concrete in the outdoor class
		Movable
Shading devices		Vegetation L Trees of third size for protection of the area for the lectures
		Other
Didactic garden	C O	Raised flower beds for plant growth
Environmental education	O W	Cistern for water collection
Vegetation	C O	Arboreal, herbaceous and bushy essences for scientific observation
Garden production
Environmental resilience		Rainwater linear gardens, extensive permeable surfaces and cistern for rainwater collection
Reference	Miller Company Landscape Architects www.millercomp.com

1. The project of this large k8 school (hosting up to 650 students) and recently opened (fall 2015), includes various strategies for sustainability, both at the building level and at the open surrounding space. The curricula provide for a strengthening in the scientific field and the external environment has been designed to offer different opportunities for interactive teaching. The cultivated gardens are managed directly by the students who provide the water supply using the external cistern where rainwater is collected. An outdoor meeting space for the entire school community has been conceived as well as a snug space separated from the recreation area where it is possible to carry out outdoor lectures. Permeable floorings (central courtyard, amphitheater area and car parks) have been built, where possible

Spatial configuration
Horizontal limits	W O C L S R	Bridges and paths In wooden planks for outdoors. Wood logs for the paths and chipped for the higher use routes and outdoor class Coloured asphalt for sports (half basketball court) and synthetic turf for the play areas Coloured asphalt in play areas (with graphics)
Vertical limits	O C L	Wooden perimeter fence towards the inside areas and metal one towards the street
Storage	O C	Modest dimensions Structure with gree roof
Sport equipment
Furniture		Fixed L S Seats on wooden logs. Seats in wood and concrete (high curb of the sports field)
		Movable O L Sitting on wooden logs for meetings and lectures
Shading devices		Vegetation L Shaded area for lectures
		Other
Didactic garden	C	Raised flower beds for plant with a door for the observation of root systems. Water intake
Environmental education	W	Small channel for the outflow of water for observation and experiments, powered by a barrel of water placed at the top of the slope (with adjacent water intake). Sand beds for experiments. Roof garden on the deposit
Vegetation	C O	Arboreal, herbaceous and bushy essences for scientific observation
Garden production
Environmental resilience
Reference	Klopfer Martin Design Group www.klopfermartin.com Christian Phillips Photography

1. The school for 6–13 years old students, from different cultures/ethnicities (63 % African-Americans, 32 % Hispanic), for 550 students, was renewed in 2011. It is provided with an equipped outdoor space that allows promoting the environmental education required by the curriculum. According to the approach proposed by the BSI (Boston Schoolyard initiatives), the redevelopment intervention included the outdoor class with a vegetable garden, an area for sports activities (half a basketball court and a large playing field for different activities), one area for experimental learning and one to play provided with trees and one for the specific games (with floor graphics). Local residents use the area in front of the school entrance after lessons as urban space