Eagle Rock Elementary Celebrates $350,000 Urban Greening Grant (PHOTOS)

Parents, garden lovers and administrators from gathered Friday in a small campus garden overlooking Caspar Avenue to celebrate the recent procurement of a $350,000 grant from State of California Proposition 84 funds for greening the school.

About 20 people attended the event, which included a sumptuous breakfast served in the garden under the shade of trees.

A group of Eagle Rock Elementary parents worked with the Hollywood Beautification Team, a 20-year-old environmental group, to apply for and secure the sizeable grant for a project designed to remove a large chunk of asphalt from the school playground and for the installation of permeable surfaces and bio-swales for storm water retention. (See attached pdf for details about the greening project.)

A key feature of the project involves expanding the school’s small garden and opening it to the surrounding community as well as transforming an existing lawn by planting mature shade trees and turning it into a small local park. Providing after-school and weekend access to the schoolyard is an integral part of the project, too.

The temperature difference between an asphalt surface and one covered with grass can be as high as 30 degrees, Tracy Bartley, environmental ombudsman for the Los Angeles Unified School District, told the gathering during the celebration. The shorter a child, the more he or she is likely to feel the heat from asphalt, Bartley added, underscoring the importance of greenery on school campuses.

The project’s community and environmental-based partners include , the office of , the , and the , among others.

The $350,000 Urban Greening Grant was awarded by the State of California Strategic Growth Council, using Proposition 84 funds approved by voters in 2006.

Stay tuned for a video in which Hollywood Beautification Team Director Sharyn Romano gives a talk.