Giving Compass' Take:

· In an effort to improve outdoor learning spaces and reduce damage from flooding and water management issues, Children & Nature Network report that some Chicago schools have been selected to undergo a green schoolyard transformation in 2019. 

· Why is it important to get children outside? How are outdoor learning spaces affecting the way students learn?  

· Here's more about the successes of outdoor learning and education. 

A handful of Chicago elementary schools will receive major upgrades next year as part of a program aimed at improving outdoor learning spaces while also addressing flooding and other water management issues.

Five schools were selected earlier this month for participation in Space to Grow, an initiative that transforms Chicago schoolyards with the goal of providing kids in low-income neighborhoods with safe spaces to play and recreate.

The new “green schoolyards” will incorporate special surfaces and landscape features that help capture a significant amount of rainfall, resulting in less neighborhood flooding, according to a press release from the Metropolitan Water District of Greater Chicago. MWRD runs the Space to Grow program in partnership with Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Department of Water Management, the Healthy Schools Campaign and the environmental advocacy group Openlands.

Read the full article about Chicago's green schoolyard transformation by Jenette Restivo at Children & Nature Network.