Community of Practice #17 - Sacramento City Unified School District

Описание: COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE FOR SCHOOLYARD FORESTS
Meeting #17 — January 15th, 2026

The Community of Practice for Schoolyard Forests is an open and welcoming monthly discussion forum for school districts, county offices of education, and public agencies in California and around the country to share information as they move forward with establishing schoolyard forests at scale. Our goal is to provide support and to build a collegial “community of practice” and national network to strengthen these efforts. We also welcome tree planting organizations, landscape architects, and others from anywhere in the world who support school districts in this work.

On January 15th, 2026, Chamberlain Segrest, Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) Sustainability Manager; Nathaniel Browning, SCUSD Director of Facilities Planning and Property Management; and Ayesha Ercelawn, Senior Program Manager and Education Specialist for Green Schoolyards America discussed how SCUSD and Green Schoolyards America collaborated to create a biodiverse, climate-adapted schoolyard forest at Parkway Elementary, providing direct benefit to the school’s students and providing a model for the district and beyond!

Speakers shared their perspective on setting equity criteria, how the pilot aligns with district goals, and how they are pushing forward district-wide schoolyard greening.

GUEST SPEAKERS
Chamberlain Segrest (she/her), Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD), Sustainability Manager
Nathaniel Browning (he/him), SCUSD, Director of Facilities Planning and Property Management
Ayesha Ercelawn (she/her), Green Schoolyards America, Senior Program Manager and Education Specialist

MEETING HOSTS
Mikaela Randolph, MPP, Associate Director, Regional Programs
Lauren McKenna, MLA, Senior Program Manager

WEBINAR TIMING:
0:00 Intro
2:53 Presentation by Ayesha Ercelawn
16:16 Presentation by Nathaniel Browning and Chamberlain Segrest
44:48 Q&A
51:55 Closing by Mikaela Randolph

*Additional resources and links:

RESOURCES

Visit our events page for all our ongoing online series, plus recordings of past sessions: www.greenschoolyards.org/events

Links from GSA:
CA Tree Palette: https://www.greenschoolyards.org/cal-...
California Schoolyard Tree Canopy Study: https://www.greenschoolyards.org/tree...


LINKS FROM SPEAKERS

SCUSD's Facilities Master Plan: https://scusd-fmp.webflow.io/

Racism In Fine Print: How Old Housing Policies Impact Non-white Communities | NBC News NOW:    • Racism In Fine Print: How Old Housing Poli...  

Two New Schoolyard Forests Point to a Greener Future for California’s Schools: https://www.greenschoolyards.org/blog...

Green Schoolyards America collaborates with school districts and public agencies to create Living Schoolyard Initiatives that transform asphalt-covered school grounds into park-like green spaces that improve children’s well-being, learning, and play while contributing to the ecological health and resilience of our cities. We are working to change the norm for school ground design, use, and management so that all children will have access to the natural world in the places they already visit on a daily basis.

Our programs support the living school ground movement, build relationships that help it succeed, and work to embed this perspective in our existing institutions and policy and regulatory frameworks.