John W Cook Elementary School

8150 S. Bishop St., Auburn Gresham neighborhood

The new campus at Cook utilizes green infrastructure to reduce local flooding in the community and to create new opportunities for environmental education and outdoor learning. The schoolyard, once an expansive asphalt lot once referred to as “Lake Cook,” is home to the longest hopscotch in the city of Chicago and now includes gardens, native plants, new trees, walkways and seating areas, two half-court basketball courts, a turf field, a running track, and playgrounds for younger students as well as for middle school students. The school also grows nutritious food in garden beds donated by Big Green Chicago.

“We were in desperate need of a playground,” said Cook Principal Dr. El Roy Estes, “but we also gained a park.”

Read More about Cook

September 2018 | Space to Grow
New Green Schoolyard Opens at Cook Elementary

Take a virtual tour of the Cook Space to Grow schoolyard!