At an urban L.A. school, an unexpected oasis
An Anna’s hummingbird feeds at a sage plant in the urban garden at Leo Politi Elementary School west of downtown Los Angeles. The campus has become a sanctuary for birds, native plants and an array of insects -- much to the delight of its students. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Students from Leo Politi Elementary use binoculars to study the birds that frequent the vegetation on campus. “At our school, flycatchers drink the water in the vernal pool,” said one student, who dreams of becoming an ornithologist. “Scrub jays hang out in the oaks.” (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
A yellow-rumped warbler sits on a tree branch at Leo Politi Elementary. The school’s garden grows where a towering apartment complex once stood. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
In partnership with Los Angeles Audubon, Leo Politi in 2008 became one of the first elementary schools in the city to apply for and win “schoolyard habitat” and partner’s grants from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
A bushtit pulls material from a crevice on one of the buildings at Leo Politi Elementary. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Brad Rumble, principal at Leo Politi Elementary, leads some of his students through the campus garden. The school is compiling an online illustrated survey of every species documented in the sanctuary. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)