A $700,000 federal grant will support community-schoolyard projects at Crawford W. Long Middle School and Fitch Elementary School in Atlanta. The funding was announced Wednesday at a pep rally at Long Middle, where Atlanta and federal officials presented the project as an investment in outdoor space for students and nearby residents, according to Atlanta News First.
How the schoolyards are expected to work
At Long Middle, the grant is intended to help convert a vacant lot beside the school into green space. The area is expected to be available to the surrounding community outside school hours, while students will help develop and render the design and choose its features, Atlanta News First reported. The Trust for Public Land is partnering with Atlanta and federal officials on the effort, according to the outlet.
The projects are future plans rather than completed renovations. Atlanta News First reported that the grant will support work at both schools and that earlier funding rounds have helped 14 other Atlanta Public Schools turn unused areas into playgrounds and green space since 2020.
The access question
The grant arrives as Atlanta officials and park advocates continue to measure how close residents are to green space. Atlanta News First reported that about 18% of metro Atlanta residents do not have a park or green space within a 10-minute walk. Separately, the Trust for Public Land’s May 2026 ParkScore data says 85% of Atlanta residents live within a 10-minute walk of a public park. Those figures describe different geographic measures: one concerns metro Atlanta residents, while the other concerns Atlanta residents, according to the Trust for Public Land.
Broader funding context
The schoolyard investment also comes as the city’s parks budget faces pressure. Hoodline reported that Atlanta’s fiscal year 2027 budget reduced general-fund spending for the Department of Parks and Recreation by about 5%, to $54.6 million. Hoodline and WABE also reported on property-tax revenue and the role of philanthropic partners in Atlanta’s parks system.
Trust for Public Land data cited by WABE puts private-organization investment in Atlanta’s park system at an average of $65.38 per resident, compared with a national ParkScore benchmark of $154 in total per-capita spending. The $700,000 federal award will be directed to the two school-based green-space projects.
