Garden Classrooms

6th grade students plant, grow, and harvest popcorn and learn about soil, garden ecosystems, and sustainable agriculture in partnership with the 6th grade science program.

Shamrock Gardens' gardening program was started in the 2000's by parents in the community around the school. The program seeks to engage students in hands-on, outdoor learning, bridging curriculum taught in the classroom with lessons in the gardens. Students also receive lessons inside cooking up veggies raised outside, learning about the nutritional benefits of having a diet rich in fruits and vegetables.

Beginning with our kindergarteners in the spring (looking forward to the following fall), our students plant potatoes and pumpkins in order to pass those crops on to the incoming kindergarten class for future harvest. The incoming class of kindergarteners harvest the crops and enjoy mashed potatoes and pumpkin seeds that were the fruit of the labor of the previous class. In first grade, students will plant spring peas as the snows melt, and future plans include integrating our science weather unit (including air temperature, soil temperature, and rainfall) with graphing plant growth.

The school garden was funded and built through a partnership with The Washington Youth Garden in Northeast DC.