Living Schoolyards
Living Schoolyards is a term used to describe school grounds that can act as a learning environment, a thriving habitat, and a community space. Worldwide, the living schoolyards movement seeks to increase equitable access to the outdoors and time in the natural environment for students. Schoolyards are being redesigned to benefit the habitat for flora and fauna, as well as with an eye toward climatological mitigation.
The Living Schoolyard movement aims to make nature is accessible to every student, every day. Such greening creates opportunities for all students to enjoy rich green environments, which link curricula to place-based learning, hands-on experiences, and environmental literacy practices.
A part of our Living Schoolyards work is the garden program which encourages all students to better understand the food cycle and nutrition and offers hands-on experience growing and cooking their own food leading to a better understanding of food sovereignty.
Our Garden/Living Schoolyard teachers assist teachers to integrate our district initiatives and grade-level curriculum with the place-based teaching practices to increase experiential learning time outside of the classroom, help deepen student knowledge, and develop a feeling of connection to the living ecosystems within their community.
The Power and Potential of Green Schoolyards
Green schoolyards bring nature back to cities and suburbs by transforming barren asphalt and ordinary grass into vibrant environments for learning and play, set within the context of the rich, local ecosystems that nurture wildlife and the natural processes that underlie and sustain our urban infrastructure. Green schoolyards foster children’s social, physical, and intellectual growth and health by providing settings for curiosity, collaboration, imagination, exploration, adventure, and wonder.