Garden Classrooms

Brien McMahon High School

Norwalk Grows is a school garden program in Norwalk CT, installing edible gardens and providing garden education programs in Norwalk Public Schools.

Academy @ Shawnee

Our school, grades 6-12, is located in a USDA certified food desert in a blighted neighborhood. There is only one grocery store, and it's miles away from a majority of our families. Our school population is high-poverty, made up of almost 90% free and reduced lunch qualifiers. So, besides school lunches, many of our students and their families do not have the opportunity to eat much fresh food and produce, and even if they can get it from the store, it is usually more expensive than the fast food and processed food alternatives.

Elm St Middle School

In our urban community many residents are unable to plant a garden due to contaminated soil. Our school courtyards are no exception. Our goal is to create an alternative urban garden utilizing hydroponics, an indoor grow lab, and vertical beds. The current garden area is comprised of flower gardens only due to the lead content of the soil. It is our hope that exposing our students to alternatives for edible gardening will enable them to spread these techniques out into their community.

Randy Smith Middle School

The goal of the Randy Smith Middle School Garden is to teach students where food comes from, and to encourage personal gardens, healthy eating, and being outdoors. It also strives to be an additional classroom resource for teachers throughout the year, offer activities for youth throughout the summer months, and serve as a source of food for the neighborhood. The newest goal is to allow the neighboring Ann Wien Elementary School to use the garden.

Mather School

CitySprouts gardens are a vital resource for children's health and learning. When teachers bring classes to the garden, children see difficult concepts come to life in a rich sensory environment. In this way the garden promotes academic engagement across the curriculum. The garden also connects children to the food they eat and empowers them to make healthy food choices. By planting and harvesting fruits, vegetables and grains, children develop a taste and appreciation for nutritious food.

Whidby Elementary

Whidby Elementary is a health science magnet school. Gardening, nutrition,and health is part of the school culture and curriculum! Urban Harvest is partnered to help grow the school community garden and outdoor classroom. The grant would make it possible to have a greatly needed garden shed and to expand the garden! To grow the school gardens, Whidby needs adequate and secure storage for garden tools and outdoor cooking materials.

McKinley Elementary School

Our school created the “Octopus’s Garden” in 2007. We installed nine raised beds, trees, a path and a large mosaic of an Octopus that enhances the beauty of the garden.

The garden's broad mission is to help students appreciate nature and understand how food is produced. Each raised bed is reserved for a specific grade level, and one bed is earmarked for the Alchemy restaurant cooking Class. Two beds are used by the Garden Club. The garden also contributes to McKinley's zero waste program by composting the cafeteria vegetable waste.

View Ridge Elementary

The goals for our Outdoor Classroom Garden are to grow more edible plants and to integrate the garden fully into our school curriculum. Right now we have a lovely space with 6 edible containers, an ornamental area and enough seating to comfortably host an entire class. However, it can be improved by replacing some of the ornamental plantings with edibles like berries, vegetables, and herbs and increasing the number of edible planting beds.

Anne Frank Elementary

At Anne Frank Elementary, we have a diverse student population that lives in a large, urban area. All of our students receive free lunch and breakfast. Our goal for the garden is twofold. First, to provide a space for the students and their families to experience growing and eating what they have produced. Second, the garden is an extension of the classroom. We use resources that tie-in with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) to enrich learning across all subject areas.

Frontier Elementary

The main goal of our school garden is to promote environmental awareness leading students to choose higher education and careers in environmental science and agriculture. Frontier Elementary is an approved Environmental and Animal Science CHOICE school. Our mission is to foster environmental and animal science awareness among all elementary-aged children. To achieve this mission we teach science with the approach of inquiry and discovery through investigative hands-on exploration.

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