Many Milwaukee-area schoolyards are covered in crumbling asphalt and offer little if any green space. Schoolyards were originally paved to reduce lawn maintenance costs, but decades of inertia have left deteriorating infrastructure that is costly to repair and impairs the environmental health of our city and the social-emotional wellbeing of our children. An increasing body of research underscores that students’ access to green schoolyards can result in better academic outcomes, increased engagement and enthusiasm, improved social-emotional skills, and decreased childhood obesity. Redeveloped schoolyards also afford a myriad of co-benefits: improved stormwater management, urban biodiversity, community engagement, and meaningful STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) curricular connections.