3300 Gilman Road, El Monte, CA 91732

Alfred Madrid Middle School
“the Bones”
BEFORE –For years, the Mountain View School District and the roughly 850 students attending Alfred Madrid Middle School in El Monte called the area just past their back steps “the Bones.” It was, literally, a dump – a no-mans land between the school and an old metal factory littered with abandoned sofas, TVs, mattresses and other household trash. It was not the kind of place that invited exploration, much less physical exercise or a game of tag.

New completed Madrid Middle School Nature and Exercise Trail
Community Involvement
Community-based park design incorporates ideas from residents, city officials, and other stakeholders, building support and excitement for the project.


Ariel view and design concept of the Madrid Middle School Exercise Trail
Madrid Middle School’s PE teachers and eighth-grade students provided park amenity ideas; their goal – physical fitness; training stations are located throughout the park for circuit type exercises and walking trails to keep visitors moving while enjoying the green space.
Getting the park site ready – Students participated in removing invasive plants and with the help of the California Conservation Corps, and Los Angeles Conservation Corps removed 124 tons of trash and debris from the site. From the photographs, you can see the change the park brought to the area, once a trash-laden lot – now a beautiful safe place for children and families to play.
From blight to bright
AFTER – From blight to bright, the reinvented Madrid Middle School Execise Trail is now the kind of place we all want our children to experience. Getting the park site ready – Students participated in removing invasive plants and with the help of the California Conservation Corps, and Los Angeles Conservation Corps removed 124 tons of trash and debris from the site.
From the photographs, you can see the change the park brought to the area, once a trash-laden lot – now a beautiful safe place for children and families to play.

Mature trees and a special touch added by AMIGOS – murals on adjacent buildings to the Madrid Middle School Exercise Trail
Project Team: Emerald Necklace Group|Amigos de los Rios, California Conservation Corps, Los Angeles County Conservation Corp
Alfred Madrid Middle School Gallery
This site is a location of regular saturday stewardship events. Hundreds of community college, high school, middle school students and their families, as well as local residents, veterans, and business owners, have participated in Emerald Necklace Stewardship events.
- AMIGOS Volunteer at Alfred Madrid Middle School
- Students using trail exercise equipment
- Entrance gate to Madrid Middle School Exercise Trail
- Emerald Necklace Map Stone at Madrid Middle School
- Bioswale_at_Madrid-Middle School
- Volunteer at Alfred Madrid School Trail
- AMIGOS Volunteers at Alfred Madrid Middle School Exercise Trail and Park
- AMIGOS Volunteers at Alfred Madrid Middle School Exercise Equipment
- AMIGOS Volunteers doing mid-morning stretch
- AMIGOS Volunteers