Ten Priority Schools for Tree Planting in Tacoma
Our partners in the WSU Ravenholt Urban Forest Health Lab completed an analysis to identify priority Tacoma public schools (K-12) for tree planting with the goal of helping Tacoma equitably green schools.
by Fig Dewitz and Joey Hulbert
While many school grounds would benefit from more trees, some areas would benefit more. In this analysis, WSU ranked Tacoma’s public schools based on 5 metrics, then averaged the ranks of each school to identify ten schools as priorities for urban greening efforts. The aim of the analysis was to help Tacoma equitably green schools by prioritizing which schools need trees the most. More details about the analysis are available in the ‘Tacoma Schools, Urban Heat and Trees’ storymap.
Figure 1: View of Edison Elementary School from Google Map, one of the priority schools identified in the study.
Ranking Tacoma Schools Based on the Need for Trees
Five datasets were used to rank the needs of Tacoma Public Schools for planting trees:
Air temperature: Afternoon air temperature data for each school were extracted from the City of Tacoma and Portland State University Assessment .
Urban tree canopy coverage: Urban tree canopy data were extracted from PlanITGeo's 2018 canopy cover assessment .
Street trees: Street trees (trees within 25 ft of the street) inside school grounds were quantified using Google Street View and Google Maps.
Environmental Health Disparities Map data: Environmental Health Disparity (EHD) Ranks were extracted for each school based on the Washington Tracking Network's EHD Rank Map (version 2).
The City of Tacoma’s Equity Index Values: Equity Index Values were extracted from districts for each school using data from the City of Tacoma's 2022 Tacoma Equity Index Map .
The Environmental Health Disparity Map provides district level data related to sensitive populations, socioeconomic factors, environmental exposures, and environmental effects. The City of Tacoma’s Equity index maps consider accessibility, livability, education, economy, and environmental health factors to assign equity rankings in neighborhoods throughout the city.
Figure 2: Urban heat map of Tacoma with darker shades representing hotter afternoon air temperatures.
Each Tacoma Public School was ranked based on the above five data sets. Low rankings indicate the school had low canopy cover, few street trees, elevated air temperatures, high environmental health disparity ranks, and low equity index values.
The average of these ranks was determined for each school and the 10 schools with the lowest overall rank were identified as priorities.
10 Priority Schools
Mann Elementary School
Arlington Elementary School
Edison Elementary School
Boze Elementary School
Giaudrone Middle School
First Creek Middle School
iDEA High School
Willie Stewart High School
Lincoln High School
Mount Tahoma High School
It should be noted that some of the data used for ranking the schools may be outdated. For example, Tacoma Tree Foundation’s 2023 school planting at Madison Elementary School and Mount Tahoma are not accounted for here. Additionally, both the canopy coverage and urban heat data used were measured in 2018.
Tree Planting Challenges and Barriers
There are many factors to consider when planting trees and some areas have more challenges than others. Some of these schools may have less space available for planting or require more funding to make space (e.g., if de-paving is needed). Another limiting factor to planting could be the needs of stewardship or resources for staff to help the trees establish and thrive throughout their lives.
Figure 4: Garry Oak seedling growing in the City of Tacoma’s Environmental Services Nursery.
Tree Benefits to Schools and the Community
There is enormous need and opportunity to grow Tacoma’s urban forest. Planting more trees at our schools can reduce the effects of urban heat islands, the threats and intensity of which are detailed in Lowell Wyse’s “The Urban Heat Island Effect: A Growing Threat to Human Health in Tacoma”.
Trees provide opportunity for learning and community involvement. To learn more about these and other productive aspects of greening our school yards, we recommend the neat lecture series on designing schoolyard forests: Green Schoolyards America.
Figure 5: Red maples planted outside of Mary Lyon Elementary.
Equitable Tree Planting
The aim of the WSU analysis was to help guide efforts to green Tacoma equitably. While most schools and communities would benefit from trees, some schools and communities would benefit more. The work and community of the Tacoma Tree Foundation is dedicated to growing Tacoma’s urban forest equitably. Learn more about the impacts of their efforts in ‘A Year of Planting For and In Community’.