In 2005, when a large expanse of blacktop at 24th Street Elementary was about to be resurfaced, a coalition of educators, neighbors, community organizations, and concerned citizens seized on the opportunity to transform the paved lot into a 1.5-acre garden classroom. Their goal was to use the garden to address the links between poverty, lack of access to fresh food, and academic performance. The nonprofit Garden School Foundation was formed to support these efforts.

Today, as one of the largest such gardens in LAUSD, 24th Street continues to thrive and have a profound effect on students. The garden has become a treasured resource, deeply embedded in the lives of students’ families, neighbors, and like-minded people from across the city. Our unique Seed to Table curriculum of gardening and nutritional cooking classes was developed at 24th Street and was expanded to four schools in 2013. Garden School Foundation now currently serves twelve Title I schools throughout L.A.