CUSD installs ‘rain gardens’: Condit’s ‘Danny’s Garden’ holds special significance
The water gardens have been installed at Sycamore and Sumner-Danbury elementary schools, San Antonio High, and Condit Elementary, where the feature is called “Danny’s Garden,” after alumni Daniel Gould, who died in 2022. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo
by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com
Sustainable Claremont and Claremont Unified School District have teamed up to install stormwater capturing rain gardens at several CUSD campuses in hopes of improving sustainability and students’ understanding of the environment.
“Basically, it’s a native looking garden that has a water retention feature, so it has a basin that captures water,” said Stuart Wood, executive director of Sustainable Claremont. “They’re meant to be sort of waterwise, educational gardens that also serve the purpose of reducing water runoff during rain events.”
The late Daniel Gould’s sister Julia Gould and father Don Gould pictured at “Danny’s Garden” at Condit Elementary School, which honors the former Condit student who died in 2022. Photo/courtesy of Don Gould
Work began in April. The gardens have since been installed at Sycamore, Sumner-Danbury, and Condit elementary schools, and San Antonio High School. The largest, at Condit, is called “Danny’s Garden,” named for school alumni Daniel Gould, son of Pamela and Don Gould, who died August 1, 2022. The date August 21, 2025 is inscribed on the memorial, which would have been Daniel’s 35th birthday.
“Environmental causes were at the top of Daniel’s list of things that were important to him,” his father Don Gould said. “And so, the idea that we could have this, almost like a demonstration garden at the school where he probably first developed his love for environmental causes, and as a living garden as something that could become a teaching center for the elementary school kids about sustainability, it just all seemed like a perfect and fitting tribute to what Daniel stood for.”
The gardens feature native plants from the California Botanic Garden and repurposed soil from Sustainable Claremont’s various composting sites. The new project has been in the planning stages at CUSD and Sustainable Claremont for some time.
“Sustainable Claremont was already partnering with our campuses on food gardens, so expanding the collaboration to include rain gardens was a natural next step,” CUSD spokesperson Elaine Kong wrote in an email. “Rain gardens help manage stormwater where it tends to pool or rush off, reducing localized flooding and keeping water from becoming stagnant. The plant palettes are water-wise and placed on drip irrigation, which significantly reduces water use and can effectively offset irrigation needs in those areas. Features like bioswales and French drains increase infiltration and improve on-site water management.”
The late Daniel Gould. Photo/courtesy of Don Gould
Sustainable Claremont board member Carson Bennitt first proposed having Condit’s garden be named after his late friend.
“Daniel always had a love of nature, a love of Claremont, a love of just kind of inspiring the world to be a better place and be more eco-friendly and responsible,” Bennitt said. “And when Daniel passed away tragically, it just left this big void. And I wanted to do something to honor him.”
The Gould family financed the memorial. The plaque’s inscription reads in part, “Celebrating Daniel and the school that nurtured his imagination and love for nature.” A dedication was held September 7.
“That can be a chapel for his spirit,” Bennitt said of the garden. “I feel like his spirit is everywhere, but that could be a place where his spirit gets concentrated and where his love can grow.”
That future generations of Condit students will learn about water conservation at the garden resonates warmly with Daniel’s father.
“What they can take away from this is a better appreciation for the environment, a better understanding of sustainability, and maybe in the back of their mind that even one student can make a difference,” Don Gould said.
Condit Elementary School and Sustainable Claremont teamed up to create “Danny’s Garden” rain garden at the Mountain Avenue school, an education hub and memorial for former student Daniel Gould, who died in 2022. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo
Capital for the project came from a $161,488 grant, the Los Angeles County Safe, Clean Water Program, which was funded by Measure W, a property tax that generates about $300 million annually for the capture and treatment of stormwater. Sustainable Claremont had planned to pay for similar projects outside Claremont with funding from the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s Community Challenge Grant, but those funds were frozen by the Trump Administration earlier this year. The move prompted a federal lawsuit, Appalachian Voices v. United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Plans are underway to create rain gardens at the remaining six CUSD schools by July 2026.
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Daniel was a wonderful person. This is a fitting tribute to his memory.