Identify Policies
Implementing a green schoolyards program can make a policy easier to enact. Does your city, town or school district have the following policies that a green schoolyard program could support?
School Health & Wellness Policies
Adequate & Equitable U.S. PK-12 Infrastructure: Priority Actions for Systemic Reform
Identifies 55 priority actions for systemic PK–12 infrastructure reform
- Mary Filardo, Jeffrey M. Vincent
- The Center for Cities + Schools at University of California - Berkeley
- 2017
America After 3PM: How are kids spending their time after school?
This website shows data trends of after-school program participation
- Afterschool Alliance
Case Study: Increasing Physical Activity Opportunities in Mississippi
Shared use agreements help Mississippi communities increase physical activity on schoolyards.
- Voices for Healthy Kids
D.C. Healthy Schools Act
State law promotes student health and wellness
- Office of the State Superintendent of Education for the District of Columbia
- 2010
Developing Great Schoolyards: A Handbook for Elementary Schools - 1st Edition
Elements of healthy, safe and educationally-rich schoolyards in photos with concise text
- 21st Century School Fund
- 2011
Eat What You Grow: A School Garden Food Safety Manual for Chicago Public Schools
Growing food on your green schoolyard? Follow these protocols for safe and healthy harvest and food service.
- Family Farmed
Green Schoolyards: A Growing Movement Supporting Health, Education and Connection with Nature
Case studies of systemic urban schoolyard transformation yield innovative and tangible approaches for replication.
- Healthy Schools Campaign & Openlands
- 2016
Healthy Out-of-School Time Wellness Policy Implementation Guide for Parks and Recreation Agencies
A guide with real-life examples, best practices and steps to help agencies implement a wellness policy and create sustainable site changes
- National Park and Recreation Association
Opening School Grounds to the Community After Hours in California
A toolkit for increasing physical activity through joint use agreements
- Robert S. Ogilvie, Jason Zimmerman
- ChangeLab Solutions
- 2010
Playing smart: maximizing the potential of school and community property through joint use agreements
Lessons learned, templates, and agreements for joint-use of school grounds in your community
- KaBOOM!
- Public Health Law & Policy
Preventing Obesity by Design
Designing outdoor environments with children’s health and wellbeing in mind
- Natural Learning Initiative at the College of Design, North Carolina State University
- 2009
Providence Public Schools Health and Wellness Policy
A school district’s goals and guidelines for health and wellness of the entire school community
- Providence Public School District
- August 2017
School garden development guide
School garden design guidelines from the Palm Beach County School District
- Palm Beach County School District
- 2016
Selection criteria
Green schoolyards selection criteria prioritizes stormwater capture and equitable access
- Space to Grow
Shade for Kids - A Policy Primer for School Boards
Six steps school boards can take to safeguard children’s health by improving shade on schoolyards
- Evergreen
State farm to school legislative survey: 2002-2014
National inventory of state farm to school legislation that can support green schoolyards
- National Farm to School Network
- 2015
Strategies for recess in schools
National guidance, considerations and strategies for recess advocacy in schools
- SHAPE America—Society of Health and Physical Educators
- 2017
The Learning Grounds Guide for Schools - 3rd Edition
Resources for every stage of schoolyard greening, programming and maintenance
- Debby Morton, Tim Cameron, Jane Hayes
- Evergreen
- 2015
The Whole-School Sustainability Framework: Guiding Principles for Integrating Sustainability Into All Aspects of a School Organization
The case for green schoolyards as part of a whole-school sustainability framework.
- Stephanie K. Barr, Jennifer E. Cross, Brian H. Dunbar
- The Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council
- 2014
Unlocking the Doors to Healthier Kids and Communities
Data to build decision maker awareness of how shared use agreements promote physical activity for families
- American Heart Association
- Voices for Healthy Kids
Using State Laws and Regulations to Promote Healthy Eating and Physical Activity (HEPA) in Afterschool Programs
This report focuses on the potential benefits and unintended consequences of state policies specifically focused on Out-of-School-Time (OST) programs.
- Jean Wiecha, PhD, Kristen Capogrossi, PhD
- National Park and Recreation Association
- November 2016
What is health equity? And what difference does a definition make?
Health equity may be a local lever for green schoolyard program development.
- Paula Braveman, Elaine Arkin, Tracy Orleans
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- 2017
Wisconsin School District Resources: Recreational Use of School Property
Analysis of an agreement that permits community recreational use of school property
- Public Health Law Center at Mitchell Hamline School of Law
