L.A. early education classrooms are returning to nature.
Motivated by research showing how the outdoors can aid in learning, the Los Angeles Unified School District is investing over $100 million dollars to transform heat-absorbing asphalt at every Los Angeles early education center into outdoor classrooms that reconnect students with nature.
The district has completed 23 of these makeovers, which are being used by 2,800 pre-k students.
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Earlier this month, parents, community members and LAUSD officials attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Normandie Avenue Early Education Center where officials unveiled a new outdoor classroom designed to immerse young students in nature-based learning.
The $1.9 million makeover provided students with a colorful jungle gym, sprouting plants, musical instruments, and educational toys. It’s a classroom that feels like a park — and it’s making parents even more excited to send their children to school.
“I’m terrified because I don’t like bugs, and they like to pick up rocks, so they’re gonna pick up rocks and they’re gonna bring it home, and they’re gonna bring little caterpillars and bugs,” said LaDeja McIntyre about her three year old daughter. “But I’m excited too, because she gets to explore her mind…outside of the classroom and (in the) outdoors.”
Construction at the Normandie Avenue center took about 16 months. District officials say it will take several more years to meet their goal of building outdoor classrooms at every early education center. Thirteen are currently under construction.
The classrooms are designed in collaboration with Nature Explore, a nonprofit working to incorporate nature into every child’s education. The group has partnered with LAUSD for 14 years and is currently designing more than 20 new outdoor classrooms.
According to the Child Mind Institute, outdoor learning can improve children’s mental health, foster responsibility and stimulate imagination.
Nature Explore educational consultant Kirsten Haugen and her colleague Jill Primak, an architect, are part of the team that brings the classrooms to life.
“Seeing children enter these spaces and spend their days in these spaces, they are a wonderful mixture of excitement and calm…they have a sense of purpose and a sense of efficacy that you don’t see when they’re in more chaotic spaces,” Haugen said. “Teachers feel better in these spaces so when we can set the stage for people to be their best selves, what could be better than that?”
For three years, LAUSD superintendent Alberto Carvalho, has been part of efforts to provide teachers and students with the stage to be their best selves. In 2024, voters approved Measure US, a $9 billion facilities fund, some of which is being used to build these outdoor classrooms.
At the ribbon cutting ceremony for Normandie Avenue, Carvalho said the district is committed to expanding these classrooms to every early education center.
Even though Measure US is providing the district with bonds, Carvalho’s recent visit to Washington D.C. has made him concerned about the future of programs meant to improve student wellbeing, such as the outdoor classrooms.
“There are actions that could significantly undermine the quality, not just of education, but the quality of life of people in our community,” Carvalho said. “So in as much as we celebrate the greatness of our investments, we need to be mindful of the threats that could derail everything we have worked so hard to do.”
According to a report by the Trust for Public Land, Los Angeles has less park space than most major U.S. cities. The city offers just 3.3 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents, compared to a 6.8-acre median in other metro areas.
Normandie Avenue principal Rhonda Granados said access to the outdoor space has changed the way students are learning. After the ribbon cutting ceremony, she played with a few students who were building ramps to slide balls down into a bed of wood chips.
“What’s really rewarding is that they don’t know that they hadn’t been in nature because we had all asphalt,” Granados said. “When they come out here, they’re touching the leaves and the plants, and they’re asking questions about, how come this one’s green, but this one’s yellow, so it’s really rewarding to see their mind starting to ask questions and investigate and really want to know how things work.”
This article is part of a collaboration between The 74 and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.