The Greening of the Schoolyards

San Francisco: Sanchez School, 1974. Original plans for organic schoolyard and play equipment designs, self-published by the Sanchez Elementary School in the Mission district of San Francisco, reflecting the grassroots environmental education movement of the early 1970s. Founded in 1926, the bilingual Sanchez School was an early proponent of the “greening of the schoolyards” initiative to replace concrete urban schoolyards with natural features, like the “tan bark area” noted here, in an effort to improve children’s physical and mental health. These evocative schoolyard diagrams, which depict children’s silhouettes interacting with play structures constructed of wood and rope, are photocopied from hand drawings by designer Sam Lefkowitz and project coordinator Ben Spicer. The Sanchez School remains open today, committed to its founding principle of social justice. No holdings located in OCLC. A very good copy. Side-stapled volume, measuring 8.5 x 11 inches: 26 photocopied leaves, printed rectos only. Original turquoise and gold wrappers printed in black; illustrations of plans and elevations for playground structures on every page. Light shelfwear, two “reference” ink stamps to front wrapper, lower wrapper detached from staples. (Inventory #: 1004020)