San Carlos School District’s vision is to use its school grounds to demonstrate ecological and social resilience while strengthening children’s education and well-being, promoting school community health, adapting to a changing climate, and managing stormwater more sustainably. The District, in partnership with the City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County, seeks to create a replicable model for other school districts to promote climate and community resilience through heat and stormwater management.
Read the program’s Vision Statement, Goals, and Implementation Strategies.
RESILIENT SAN CARLOS SCHOOLYARDS REPORT
The Resilient San Carlos Schoolyards project included a participatory design process, beginning with a visioning and goal-setting excercise with the core project partners, leading to detailed site evaluations of opportunities and constraints, a full school community Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) engagement process (including student and teacher design ideation), and development of comprehensive site design concept plans and further refinement based on SAC walkthroughs at each site. The entire process and all the tools and resources to help advance Resilient Schoolyards, including the concept plans themselves, are included in the Final Resilient San Carlos Schoolyards Report and appendices. It is our vision that this process will be adopted and implemented by the San Carlos School District, as part of its current Facilities Master Planning process and be replicated by other school districts throughout San Mateo County and beyond.
SITE SELECTION PROCESS
The Resilient San Carlos Schoolyards project demonstrates how other school districts in San Mateo County and beyond can begin evaluating school campuses for integrating multi-benefit schoolyard greening into campus improvements and facilities master plans. The Site Selection Process is the first step in assessing and prioritizing the highest leverage school sites, to begin with, focusing on the range of goals defined in the Project Vision Statement, Goals, and Implementation Strategy.
Review the site selection process.
SELECTED SITES
Based on the initial engagement with the School District leadership and the Site Selection Process described above, the team selected the following schools to be the best pilot schools to advance this effort given the initially available resources. The next step is for the schools to brainstorm their highest aspirations for transforming their campuses into resilient schoolyards. From there, the school teams, including teachers, students, administrative staff, PTA members, school council members, green teams and more will dive deep into the project concept development process.
ARUNDEL:
- How could outdoor spaces adjacent to classrooms be better utilized?
- What learning and play opportunities can be explored under these oak trees?
- How can this parking lot and “front” of the school be developed for climate resiliency?
TIERRA LINDA / MARIPOSA:
- How can we address drainage and student comfort at this edge between the asphalt and the play field?
- Could students have more “access” to the adjacent creek in this outdoor classroom / eating area?
- How can this front of school be developed for climate resiliency?
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TIMELINE
Tuesday, March 8th, 2022, 3:00-4:00 pm – Arundel Brainstorming Session
Goal: To listen, share our information, and meet with communities interested in the project at Arundel.
RESOURCES: View the recorded brainstorming session here or click below.
Thursday, March 17, 2022, 3:15-4:15 pm – Tierra Linda / Mariposa Brainstorming Session
Goal: To listen, share our information, and meet with communities interested in the project at Tierra Linda & Mariposa.
RESOURCES: Download the facilitator instructions for the brainstorming breakout group and watch the brainstorming meeting video below.
Tuesday, April 5th, 2022, 3:15-4:15 pm – Student Workshops Teacher Training
Goal: Provide teachers with resources to hold design workshops with their students and methods for the consultant team to collect the information.
Wednesday, May 4, 2022, 2-3:45 pm – Curriculum Integration Meeting
Goal: Work with teaching staff to talk about specific opportunities for teaching outdoors related to the school sites.
RESOURCES: Download the Teacher Resources on Stormwater and watch the teacher training video below.
Check back as we move through the project for more information.