L.A. school enjoys first summer with cooler, green spaces

In the San Fernando Valley city of Pacoima, a Los Angeles Unified school is enjoying its first summer with cooler, green spaces that have replaced their “heat-radiating” asphalt playground, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

The Vaughn Early Education Center in the working-class city is part of a school district initiative to create more green spaces that will provide nature-based learning opportunities while helping to lower temperatures.

Students attending the school are currently part of a six-week gardening curriculum and will soon begin learning about recycling.

According to the news article by the Los Angeles Daily News, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho “said the fact that some students – and staff – are relegated indoors due to extreme heat makes it paramount to address the inequities between neighborhoods and schools.”