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ABOUT

Building School Gardens Since 2011

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An organic regenerative garden in every Los Angeles schoolyard

In harmony with nature, taking care of the soil + plants + animals. 
No pesticides, fungicides or herbicides.

Over 200 schoolyards.

We make green schoolyards happen in Los Angeles.

Executive Director Tomas O’Grady built a small vegetable garden at Thomas Starr King Middle School in 2010 with an accompanying educational garden program and quickly discovered how it benefited the lives of students, staff and the surrounding community.

Our greenspaces improve aesthetics, boost morale and promote healthy living. 

We build and take care of edible gardens in Los Angeles schools.
We think that every child in every school in this city ought to experience the joy of growing, harvesting, preparing and eating simple whole foods.
We are in a hurry.
We have created 200 + in 9 years. We are barreling towards 400.
School gardens improve air quality, increase exposure to the natural world, encourage environmental stewardship, and positively impact health and eating habits of students and the surrounding community. These gardens act as catalysts to show students just how versatile, delicious, and FUN healthy food can be, developing positive attitudes toward healthy, fresh food and increasing consumption of these foods. The startling obesity statistics in Metro Los Angeles alone demonstrate a strong need for access to simple whole foods through gardening.
We create and we maintain.
We do not build and run. Our Garden Rangers maintain the garden space weekly and provide place-based learning opportunities for students, offering lesson plans with topics such as nutrition, healthy living, gardening, and environmental stewardship. These garden classes help students establish an immediate connection between the process of growing fruits and vegetables and consuming these foods in our outdoor kitchens. With these gardens, the classroom is given local focus, tangible results, and involvement in inquiry-based education.
For many students, our school gardens are their only access to green, outdoor spaces in their neighborhood.  By improving the environmental quality of their surroundings, children are more likely to succeed.  We have seen first-hand how access to edible gardens can bring joy and community involvement.


Our Goal
A working edible garden in every Los Angeles School.
Our Culture
down to earth, no nonsense and hard working. We are irreverent and ambitious.


Food justice and food insecure
are words you will rarely hear from us. We know the issues. We focus on solutions. No further study needed. We know how we can help.
Step 1. Get gardens into schools.
Step 2. Engage kids.
We are all about action.


Our Customers
The kids. We strive to deliver a great product; a lush vegetable garden.
Our People
People who volunteer, intern and give. People who care. We have minimal staff. Our garden rangers fan out to 150 schools weekly.  We respect our people by treating their time as precious. If you volunteer, we want you to be exhausted. We feel that if you are going to give up your day to help us and others then the least that we can do is make it worth your while.

 

With over 200+ gardens built and a weekly educational Garden Ranger Program at 150+ of these schools, EnrichLA connects over 60,000 students a year to the source of their food.

EnrichLA reaches over 10x as many schools as the next largest organization in LA. In fact, EnrichLA has the largest garden education program in the US. In the last two years, EnrichLA has also become the fasting-expanding garden education program in the nation, and we have no intention of slowing down.

OUR SCHOOL GARDENS

118th Street Elementary School
20th Street Elementary
42nd Street Elementary
Academia Moderna (Alta Public Schools)
Academic Leadership at Miguel Contreras
Aldama Elementary
Alta Loma Elementary
Angeles Mesa Elementary
Arroyo Seco Museum Science Magnet
Aspire Gateway
Atwater Elementary
Audubon Middle School
Berendo Middle School
Bret Harte Elementary
Broadus Elementary
Brockton Avenue Elementary School
Bryson Elementary
Burbank Avenue Elementary
Bushnell Elementary
Calabash Charter Academy
Calvert Elementary
Carson Gore Elementary
Chandler Elementary
Cheremoya Elementary
CHIME's Institute
Christopher Columbus Middle School
Cienega Elementary
Clifford Elementary
Crestwood Street Elementary
Crystal Stairs - Sullivan
Dayton Heights
Delevan Drive Elementary
Eagle Rock Elementary
Eastman Elementary
El Sereno Elementary School
El Sereno Middle School
Elysian Heights Elementary
Emerson Community Charter Middle
Emerson Elementary 
Erwin Elementary
Farmdale Elementary
Fletcher Drive Elementary
Frank Del Olmo Elementary
Garvanza Elementary
Glenfeliz Elementary
Hamlin Elementary
Hancock Park Elementary
John Marshall High
John Muir Elementary
Jones Primary Center
Kester Ave Elementary
Kingsley Elementary
Lassen St. Elementary
Lenicia B Weemes Elementary
Lexington Avenue Primary
Lizarraga Elementary
Logan Academy
Los Feliz STEMM Elementary
Luther Burbank Middle
Magnolia Elementary
Marvin Avenue Elementary
Mayberry Elementary
Mayflower Elementary
Melrose Elementary
Micheltorena Elementary
Mid City Prescott School of Enriched Sciences
Mt.Washingto
n Elementary
Multnomah Elementary
Normandie Elementary
O'Melveny Elementary
Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Playa Del Rey Elementary
Pomelo Charter
Precious Blood School
Primary Academy
Queen Anne Elementary
Ramona Elementary
Rio Vista Elementary
Riverside Drive Charter
San Fernando Elementary
San Fernando High School
San Pascual Elementary
San Pedro Elementary
Sherman Oaks Charter
Sixth Avenue Elementary
Southeast DREAMS Magnet
St. Patrick's Catholic
Stevenson Elementary
Stonehurst Avenue Steam Magnet Elementary School
Sunny Brae Elementary
Tenth St. Elementary
The Accelerated School
Thomas Starr King Middle School
Toluca Lake Elementary
Tom Bradley Elementary
Topeka Drive Elementary
Tulsa Elementary
Valley View Elementary
Van Ness Elementary
Variety Boys and Girls Club
Variety Boys and Girls Club Pueblo Del Sol
Vine Street Elementary
Virgil Middle School
West Adams Prep High School
West Vernon Elementary
Wilbur Charter for Enriched Studies
Willow Elementary
Wilshire Park Elementary
Woodlake Elementary
Woodland Hills Elementary
Woodlawn Elementary
Yorkdale Elementary


 

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