Fourteen San Francisco public schools are getting new or upgraded turf fields as part of a roughly $1.9 million effort to turn old asphalt schoolyards into real places to play. Six of the projects are already finished and serving students, while eight more are planned or underway through 2027, with the fields going to schools at no cost.
The initiative comes from a partnership between Playing for Keeps Foundation and America SCORES Bay Area, according to PR Newswire. The combined portfolio is expected to benefit more than 4,000 students annually over the next decade, and the new fields will cover more than 100,000 square feet — roughly the equivalent of two full-size football fields. Funding for the work includes support from the Herbst Foundation, a San Francisco-based philanthropic group, and Airbnb, per the same announcement.
Six schools already have finished fields: Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy, New Traditions Creative Arts Elementary School, Monroe Elementary School, Willie L. Brown Jr. Middle School, Malcolm X Academy Elementary School, and Sherman Elementary School, according to SFGATE. The Willie L. Brown Jr. Middle School field was photographed in San Francisco in early September, the outlet reported.
Eight More Fields on the Way Through 2027
Eight additional projects — one brand-new field and seven turf replacements — are planned or underway, the report notes. Those include Sanchez Elementary School, Hillcrest Elementary School, Tenderloin Community Elementary School, E.R. Taylor Elementary School, Marshall Elementary School, Bret Harte Elementary School, and Paul Revere (PreK-8) School. The program says it will announce an additional middle school at a later date.
Timelines vary by campus. Hillcrest Elementary and Tenderloin Community Elementary are scheduled for replacement fields this year, while Paul Revere is set for 2027. E.R. Taylor Elementary School is also slated for a replacement field, though its timeline is still to be determined, per the announcement.
Airbnb has separately detailed its own role in the funding. The company said its California donation would help refurbish three San Francisco mini-pitches — at Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy in the Castro, and at Bret Harte Elementary School and Willie L. Brown Jr. Middle School in Bayview, according to Airbnb Newsroom. Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said the company was “donating $1.2 million through our Host City Impact program to build six new soccer fields, including three right here in the Bay Area.”
Why Backers Say Zip Code Shouldn't Decide Access to Play
America SCORES Bay Area CEO and Executive Director Colin Schmidt said replacing asphalt with usable fields benefits children directly, and that the partnership allows the program to expand its reach to thousands more students. Playing for Keeps Foundation President Mimi Nartey framed the stakes in blunter terms, saying a quality field is essential childhood infrastructure and that a child's zip code should not determine access to it.
Playing for Keeps describes itself as working to promote equitable access to artificial turf play spaces, while America SCORES Bay Area operates as a youth development nonprofit. The two groups say they are working with school and community partners across San Francisco to expand access to welcoming play spaces and the programs that help young people grow, according to Playing for Keeps. The organization also points to a broader case for the material, citing more than 2,000 annual play hours from a turf field compared with roughly 600 for natural grass.
The synthetic turf being installed was chosen for its durability and lower maintenance requirements. It uses no crumb-rubber infill, is made without PFAS, and is eligible for TenCate's Turf Recycling Program once it reaches the end of its useful life, per the PR Newswire announcement. America SCORES Bay Area says the current push builds on 35 asphalt-to-turf transformations it has already completed across the Bay Area through its Field of Dreams program.
Part of a Broader Push to Rework SF Schoolyards
The 14-school effort follows other recent schoolyard overhauls in the district. Everett Middle School celebrated a nearly $6 million yard transformation last year, a public-private partnership between the San Francisco Unified School District, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and an anonymous donor channeled through the San Francisco Education Fund, according to the San Francisco Unified School District. That project added a permeable turf field, a new track, and new basketball courts, and was designed to capture up to 1 million gallons of stormwater each year. SFUSD described it as the first completed project in its bond-funded Schoolyard Outdoor Learning program.
Together, the projects point to a sustained effort to replace cracked blacktops with usable green space in neighborhoods that have long gone without it. For the 14 schools in the Playing for Keeps and America SCORES Bay Area portfolio, which serve under-resourced communities across the city, the payoff is meant to be simple: more square footage where kids can actually run, practice, and play, without a price tag attached for their schools.
