Henry C. Lea School
Leading with Community-Driven Change
The Collaborative awarded the West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools (WPCNS) a design grant in 2012 to help green Lea’s asphalt schoolyard. WPCNS undertook the conceptual design phase in partnership with Lea’s Home and School Association (its PTA) as well as a local community development organizations The Enterprise Center and LISC Philadelphia.
“Once we got things off the ground, we realized how many untapped resources were available. People started to come out of the woodwork who felt personally involved. One community member even said, ‘I have been waiting for years for this to happen.’”
Julie Scott, WPCNS member, co-chair of Greening Lea
Once the conceptual design plan identified the best place for planting beds, the group was able to organize a workday to create a highly visible planting bed that jump-started the change. The planting bed project generated such a groundswell of excitement among families and neighbors that it led directly to broader changes. Given its unique position in the West Philadelphia community, WPCNS was readily able to solicit community and financial support from those outside the school community, which was essential to implementing the rest of the conceptual plan.
The plan called for a rain garden, a small grove of shade trees, and a large area of soft, porous play surface, which were ultimately made possible by:
- a Green Region Grant from the PECO energy company
- a Stormwater Management Incentives Program (SMIP) grant from the Philadelphia Water Department.
This team also worked closely with the School District of Philadelphia to marshal resources, define construction responsibilities, and establish maintenance plans—forging a path for other schools in the district to follow.
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A plan for green: The conceptual plan for the site took advantage of a wide-open space to devise a series of smaller areas defined by trees and shrubs: a rain garden, a pergola, seating, an outdoor classroom, and a new entrance.
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Before: Existing conditions at the start of the project.
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Depaving to make space: 70 community volunteers worked over two weekends to create a planting bed along Spruce Street. The bed became a visible symbol of the change that could happen across the entire schoolyard.
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When a nearby Drew Elementary School merged with Lea, it donated its nearly-new play equipment and triggered a first phase of improvements: the removal of some existing asphalt to make way for a bright, bouncy, and porous play surface.
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This community organization led the way in partnering with Lea’s teachers and parents to engage broader support and exponentially expand fundraising opportunities. Today this often takes the form of a “Friends” group.
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A soft landing: When Lea inherited play equipment from a neighborhood school, the School District paid to relocate the equipment and Water Department funding made possible a new, safe surface beneath it that manages stormwater runoff.
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A vision for change: At the ribbon cutting for the play area, students and parents were intrigued by the plan for the entire schoolyard by SALT Design Studio, funded through a Philadelphia Water Department SMIP grant.
