How Our Partnership Came to Be

Brentwood Green has been a model for many local schools throughout the years and each year since opening has been enjoyed not just by the school students, but by many other organizations, including: the Westside YMCA , which for over a decade managed  the playground and operated sports programs on site; the American Youth Soccer Organization, which has conducted youth soccer programs at BSM every fall; Coast Sports which holds summer camps, winter camps and sports clinics;  Brentwood 90049 and the Brentwood News’ Movies on the Green; the annual BSM Community Fairs, and many others.   Farmer’s Market shoppers can also enjoy the playground on Sundays.

The history of Brentwood Green has its roots in Earth Day, 1995.  Prior to then, the Brentwood Science Magnet School playground was covered with cracked and aging asphalt, and surrounded with rusted chain link fences.  Inspired to create more beauty and privacy for the schoolchildren and the surrounding community, Brentwood Beautiful on Earth Day 1995 removed asphalt and planted flowering trumpet vines along the school’s perimeter on San Vicente Blvd and Bundy Drive.

As the vines grew and blossomed, both the Brentwood Community Federation and then-Los Angeles City Councilmember Cindy Miscikowski envisioned learning gardens and a green playground to benefit both the students and the community.  The school community and neighborhood supporters quickly joined forces to make this dream into a reality.

The official groundbreaking celebration to plant the first 88 trees on campus took place on January 23, 1999,  attended by over 500 people, including LAUSD Board Member Valerie Fields,  City Councilmember Cindy Miscikowski, L.A. District Attorney Gil Garcetti, Tree People President Andy Lipkis,  L.A. Recreation and Parks Commission President Steve Soboroff, representatives from the office of Mayor James Hahn, many students, teachers, parents and administrators from the school, representatives from many homeowners associations as well as local businesses and  community organizations, including the Westside YMCA, Brentwood Beautiful, Brentwood Presbyterian Church, the Brentwood Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Brentwood Garden Club.

1999 through 2000, Brentwood Green assisted the Brentwood Science Magnet School to obtain grants and Proposition BB funds to re-asphalt the playground, construct an outdoor amphitheater and install the grass playing field.  The popular Safran Family Primary Yard, with its beautiful climbing apparatus, colorful safety surfaces, benches and sandbox, replaced the original aging playground equipment in the kindergarten yard.

By the fall of 2000, over 150 trees had been planted by the community, TreePeople and the Los Angeles Conservation Corps, with grant money from the L.A. Dept of Water and Power Cool Schools program, the Los Angeles Urban Resources Partnership and donated trees from the Los Angeles County Arboretum.

The Brentwood Area of Chamber of Commerce awarded Brentwood Green its annual Pathfinder Award, presented at its Presidents’ Ball, for its work at Brentwood Science Magnet.

The initial phase of construction was completed by summer 2001 and the playground gates were opened to the community during non-school hours.

After 9/11, a special tree was planted to honor the father of one of the Brentwood Science Magnet School teachers, who lost his life in the attack on the World Trade Center.

In 2000 and 2001, Brentwood Green and the school’s Brentwood Booster Club co-sponsored the first annual Brentwood Science Magnet Festivals to fundraise for the playground and for school programs.

Beginning in 2001, the Westside YMCA, which already provided childcare and enrichment programs for Brentwood Science Magnet School students at the Bill Goldenberg Youth House on Bundy Drive, and also provided free swimming lessons for BSMS fourth grade students, entered into a joint use agreement with LAUSD to manage the playground during non-school hours, providing supervision and maintenance and enabling children both from the school and the surrounding community to enjoy the playground through YMCA youth programs, and other organizations including American Youth Soccer Organization and Coast Sports camps.  Through the years, many other groups have enjoyed the playground and gardens, including LAUSD’s Youth Services and Beyond the Bell, Brentwood 90049, the Brentwood Presbyterian Church, Chabad of Brentwood, and local Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops.

Starting in 2001, the school and local community joined forces to create the Barbara Goldenberg Gardens, the many specialized learning gardens planted throughout the school grounds.  These Gardens were funded from a broad spectrum of supporters, including Los Angeles City Neighborhood Beautification grants and generous donations from individuals and community organizations, homeowners’ associations, businesses and the school Booster Club.   The gardens have also received support from the California Dept. of Education and the University of California’s Garden in Every School program.

The new Brentwood Green gardens and playground were toured by Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn, City Councilmember Cindy Miscikowski and Los Angeles School Board member Marlene Canter.

The school and neighborhood again joined forces to obtain a grant from the Ann and Kirk Douglas Foundation for new upper grade playground equipment.  Both Ann and Kirk Douglas attended the opening dedication of the new playground equipment on September 10, 2003.

Brentwood Green helped LAUSD to win a grant from the State of California’s Integrated Waste Management Board to install a recycled tire running track  around the field.   Brentwood Green also raised the matching funds necessary to meet the grant requirements.

Brentwood Green was honored by the Los Angeles City Council and received the City of Los Angeles’ Annual Earth Month Environmental Award in Recognition of Significant Contributions to the Urban Environment.

People for Parks honored Brentwood Green with its annual Greening award, along with City Councilmember Cindy Miscikowski.  The award was presented by then-City Council President Eric Garcetti.  During 2006, Brentwood Science Magnet and Brentwood Green also partnered with Urban Farming, a national non-profit, to support science gardens at the school.

Brentwood Green was honored to give environmental advocate and California State Senator Fran Pavley a tour of the BSM playground and gardens.

With widespread support from the community, Brentwood Green sponsored artist David Legaspi to paint the huge and beautiful Colorful California murals on the campus of Brentwood Science Magnet.  These educational and inspiring murals depict our wide range of California habitats, with abundant native flora and fauna.  The Grand Opening for the murals was held in the Spring of 2012 and attended by many community leaders and supporters, including Assemblymember Mike Feuer and City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl.

Brentwood Green was honored by the Association of Administrators of Los Angeles for its work on behalf of Brentwood Science Magnet School in a ceremony at the Biltmore Hotel.

LAUSD awarded Prime Time Sports Camp the playground management contract, taking the place of the Westside YMCA which had managed the playground since its opening.

In July, Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin and LAUSD Board Member Steve Zimmer visited the Brentwood Green playground and gardens and were given a tour by members of Brentwood Green, the Westside Family YMCA and other community members to thank them for their support of Brentwood Green and demonstrate the success of the Brentwood Green community school park program.

Beginning in September, the grass field at BSM has been restored and re-planted with a new sod field.

Coast Sports holds its 2016 Summer of Fun at BSM and AYSO Region 69 its fall youth soccer program.  On October 22, the school and Brentwood Green members celebrate BSM’s 100^th Anniversary with a reunion party at the Brentwood Youth House and tours of the school gardens.