Garden Classrooms

A red brick pathway zigzags the rooftop of the Native American Student and Community Center (NASCC), traversing through seven beds of native plants. The fully-accessible path passes through cascading terraces of grasses, shrubs and flowers. Species include elderberry, oregon grape, kinnikinnick, salal, sedum, native roses, lupine and reeds. Just southwest of NASCC, native plants with medicinal and cultural uses  cover the I-405 overpass through a partnership with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT).

This block-long collection of native plants was restored from an ivy patch in the 1990s by students in the Environmental Studies department and Environmental Club. Over the years, this space has grown to showcase a variety of beneficial plants including Oregon Iris, Salal, Spirea, many types of ferns, Showy Milkweed, and Red-Osier Dogwood. Because these plants are adapted to our local climate, the garden rarely needs watering. Stop by to experience nature in the city.

The Raul Ybarra Primary School is a Department of Education school that offers a Garden Classroom Program to promote healthy eating habits and the principles of permaculture. Our school serves a diverse community of students that go from Kinder to 8th grade. Since 2016 we have received training and support from the Agriculture Extension Service at the University of Puerto Rico. More recently we have joined efforts with Plenitud Puerto Rico to learn more about sustainable practices and ecological gardening.

We are a before and afterschool program in the Danville/San Ramon area and we are located on 15 elementary school sites. Our program focuses on providing healthy snacks for the children and they also participate in family style eating during snack time. Each site has a garden area for the teachers and children where they plant, grow, and learn about the foods we eat. The goal of our program is to provide children with nurishing snacks as well as teach them about healthy eating while in the garden.