Chief Joseph Elementary School will undergo a green upgrade in 2026. A stormwater retrofit project at the North Portland schoolyard will increase green space at the school, treat polluted stormwater runoff to improve water quality, and create educational opportunities for students.
This project advances the school’s vision for the schoolyard. Developed by the school community during the 2020–21 school year, the vision plan outlines stormwater facilities, seating, landscaping, and a mural.
The stormwater retrofit includes 3,000 square feet of stormwater planters along the schoolyard perimeter to manage runoff from more than one acre of impervious surface. Additional improvements include benches, plantings, and rerouting a roof downspout into a newly constructed stormwater planter.
A depave day will be held in partnership with nonprofit Depave on May 30, 2026. Register for the event with Depave.
Students at the school will also receive a lesson on the impacts of stormwater, and will help to plant the area after depaving.
Construction is expected to begin in early June once school is out. This project was engineered by Parametrix and will be constructed by Brown Contracting Inc. Other project partners include Depave, Portland Public Schools, Chief Joseph PTA, Urban Forestry’s Learning Landscapes Program, and the school community.
The Chief Joseph project is part of the Estuary Partnership’s School Stormwater Reduction program, which designs and builds stormwater retrofits at schools to reduce pollutants entering the Columbia River watershed while supporting environmental education and community engagement. Funding is provided by the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services’ Percent for Green program and an EPA Columbia River Basin Restoration Program Cooperative Agreement award, 44 02J49201.