Schools That Heal impacting students, schools, and designers

Posted Posted in Notes

It is hard to know whether this work is making a difference. There is such urgency to support our students, teachers, and communities with learning environments that heal, nurture, and inspire. With over a century of industrial-style educational facilities to transform, the work can feel daunting at times. Which is why it is so encouraging […]

Why Not Now? The Incredible Urgency to Bring Nature into Schools

Posted Posted in Schools

I’ve been obsessed with the Eagle Rock High School horticulture garden for years now, for many reasons. Partly because it is a beautiful example of designing with nature. Its walkways and little walls were made with reclaimed materials. It is softly sculpted to direct rainwater from paved areas into planting, from high places to low. […]

Chapter Three

Posted Posted in Schools

Sometimes life unfolds, unforeseen, like a desert mirage becoming a great lake right before your eyes. The past two years have felt like this for me. The Landscape Architecture Foundation fellowship that gave me the time and resources to explore design strategies to support mental health led to connections, ideas, and opportunities. After a decade […]

First Designing Schools for Mental Health Workshop

Posted Posted in Notes, Schools

“It’s time to begin a movement.” Those words, included in my final fellowship presentation for the Landscape Architecture Foundation last May, came true last week. Our first Designing Schools for Mental Health Workshop brought together mental health, education, design, and environmental justice professionals for a morning sharing session and afternoon policy workshop to start a […]

For the Love of Teenagers

Posted Posted in Schools

The following is the talk I gave at last week’s Landscape Architecture Foundation Symposium in Washington, D.C. You can view the recorded talk here. During fifteen years working and living in Los Angeles I’ve visited, studied, and helped to design landscapes for at least two dozen LA Unified School District public schools. For twelve years, […]