The Boston Schoolyard Initiative is a public/private venture conceived of in 1994 to revitalize Bostonês 177 schoolyards. The initiative is a partnership which aims to involve local communities, school children, parents, advocacy groups, designers and city government in the process of planning, building and maintaining schoolyard improvements.

Each schoolyard is designed as a shared resource with the community, reflecting the history and culture of the neighborhood. Desires of the students, neighbors and educators are incorporated into the design. An inclusive design process that allows the wishes of a diverse group of people results in a sense of pride and stewardship for the final product. Many of the schoolyards were underutilized by the community; their reconditioning has contributed to the much needed open space of the city.

Over the past several years, Copley Wolff Design Group has been selected by school committees to design schoolyards at the Hennigan, Jackson Mann, Murphy, and OêDonnell Schools and the firm is currently designing play spaces at the Fuller, Conley, Emerson and Garfield Schools. As the designers for the first project in the initiative, the OêDonnell School in East Boston, Copley Wolff Design Group created the prototype for community and design processes that subsequent projects have followed.