The Coop School's Rooftop Edible Garden, Brooklyn

 Our edible rooftop garden will be launched in Spring 2012. Each of four pre-K classes will have two planter boxes, one with lettuces, one with herbs. 

Our composting program was launched in January 2012. All lunch scraps are composted in the lunch room using the Bokashi method.

Parents and students will plant together as a Community Event on May 6.

The planters will be fitted with DIY self watering systems, so we hope to be able to sustain the garden through the long hot summer.

The initial plan is very modest, but we hope to expand the scope and scale in successive years. 

Our student body is comprised of a diverse mix of families from several Brooklyn neighborhoods: Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bedford Stuyvesant and beyond. By engaging the 170 families at the school with this garden plan we will be spreading awareness of the importance of healthy eating, organic produce, knowledge of ecology and environmentalism. There are many local community garden projects, cooperative chicken farms and organic farms. By teaching our urban students at the preschool age about the value and fun of engaging with the earth and the production of the food they eat we hope they will grow up to be actively engaged in the many opportunities surrounding them in the community, for a life-long commitment to these personal and civic issues.

The Co-op School provides a safe, nurturing and stimulating environment for pre-school aged children in Brooklyn. The Co-op School was founded in 2003 by a group of parents who saw the need for a high quality and affordable preschool option in the area. The school has grown into a fully staffed licensed non-profit that has served hundreds of families. We believe that the benefits of collaborative play, a diverse population, and a healthy environment provide a critical foundation for children. The Co-op School students participate in all activities; work as a community and think as individuals; contribute all feelings and ideas peacefully and respectfully; and learn how to share both personal and physical space throughout the school year. Parents share the responsibility of upholding the school’s guiding principles, facilitated through the elected Board. With the staff, parents and student body, we work towards out ultimate goal of blending community, education and family.