The paper emphasizes that school buildings and their open spaces could be rethought in relation to social and ecological needs coming from the urban context where they are located. In this light, schools can help rebalance urban metabolism and strengthen the local sociability. In fact, turning schools into socio-ecological infrastructure not only helps to observe the rules of social distancing imposed by Covid 19, but also allows to enlarge the social capital who inhabit them, and re-naturalize open spaces in order to counteract the effects of climate change. In addition to fostering the outdoor conviviality of teachers, students and even inhabitants, the greening of schools can also add healthy spaces for the quality of urban life. Furthermore, the power of schools as learning communities gives the opportunity to address adaptation through educational practices. A laboratory on the green adaptation of Neapolitan high schools offers a testing of this theory.