As school greening work heats up, surface temps cool down
Did you know that as part of our CAL FIRE grants, we are required to take surface temperatures before, during, and after construction for all project sites? Our team visits sites prior to construction with the design in hand, focusing on any surface that will be altered, such as asphalt, bare soil, artificial turf, concrete, and grass turf. All of these data points are uploaded and shared with CAL FIRE. Some temperatures reach the triple digits even on mild days. Air temperatures are recorded, as well as the various surface temperatures. As seen in the image, even decomposed granite (DG) can reach close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit on a 75-degree day. Asphalt can surpass 130 degrees. When we are finished removing more than 380,000 square feet of asphalt and planting grass fields, mulch, native plants, and shade trees on 17 campuses for our CAL FIRE Green Schoolyards grants, we can’t wait to return and measure the difference in post-construction surface temperatures!
Lynwood Construction
In May, SALT—the landscape architecture firm designing the three school greening sites we are managing in Lynwood Unified School District—produced final plans for Vista High School and Lindbergh Elementary School. Construction at Vista and Lindbergh began in July, with the removal of asphalt and concrete. As the work progresses, we will hold school community planting days to add more than 25 trees at Vista and more than 40 trees at Lindbergh, in addition to several hundred native plants at each site. Follow our progress on the Vista High School and Lindbergh Elementary School webpages. Work at Abbott Elementary (no, not that Abbott), will begin shortly as well. More than 20 trees will be planted around the campus, in addition to several cooler, greener spaces between buildings which will receive a bounty of native shrubs and groundcovers.
Cedarlane Academy Demolition
School starts extra early in Hacienda La Puente Unified School District. With a tight timeline, SLA—the contractor hired to help reconstruct the elementary and middle school courtyards at Cedarlane Academy—made quick work of demolishing more than 10,000 square feet of asphalt in the last two weeks of summer break. Students returned on Wednesday, August 6th, to a vastly reimagined landscape. While much work remains to be done, the first steps show a dramatic transformation of this space.
Kicking Off 11 LAUSD schools
As part of our “Creating Cool Schools in Southern CA” grant from CAL FIRE, TreePeople’s Green Infrastructure team has been hard at work finalizing the designs for 11 LAUSD campuses. These schools include:
- 74th Street Elementary in South LA
- 116th Street Elementary in the South LA neighborhood of Watts
- Charles W. Barrett Elementary in South Gate
- Eastman Ave Elementary in East LA
- Florence Ave Elementary in South LA
- Grape Street Elementary in the South LA neighborhood of Watts
- Independence Ave Elementary in South Gate
- Lillian Street Elementary in South Gate
- Miles Ave Elementary in Huntington Park
- Parmelee Ave Elementary in South LA
- State Street Elementary in South LA
Over the past several months, our design team has been working with members of the community, subcontractors, and LAUSD, among others, to deliver plans that increase green space and shade, decrease asphalt, and provide outdoor learning opportunities for all students.
Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) is designing a 12th LAUSD site, Vista del Valle Elementary in San Fernando.
Wilmington Middle School Planting/Construction Update
We made great strides on construction at Wilmington Middle School, over the summer. This project was designed by MLA Studios and constructed by SLA Landscaping. This amazing bird’s-eye view of the project helps provide some context of the latest phase of work. Once an unused stretch of asphalt, this learning garden and outdoor classroom will be planted by students this coming school year. Months of hard work have led to this exciting next step. Students have expressed how excited they are to be able to use the space not just for learning but for art, performance, and getting to spend time outside!
P.S. The first batch of LAUSD schools is coming. Check back in with us in the Fall for another update on their progress!