OVERVIEW

Mission

To provide students with enriching and stimulating hands-on instruction directly supporting efforts of the classroom teacher and correlating with the existing curriculum as well as State Standards.

 

Desired Outcomes

• To realize higher academic achievement by obtaining a deeper understanding of relevant concepts through improved observational skills and problem solving abilities and by applying concepts to real-life.
• To gain an appreciation for the natural world by encouraging environmental stewardship.
• To make informed choices about nutrition through exposure to healthy foods.
• To enable students to develop socially through small group interactions.

Program Description

 

Visit an LASD elementary school campus and you may witness students constructing a worm farm, harvesting and threshing winter wheat, experiencing the challenges of nest building, exploring the surface area of leaves, locating garden treasures on a life-sized coordinate grid, or planting a Native American "Three Sisters" garden. This is just a taste of the variety of fun and academically rigorous lessons offered to LASD teachers and students through the new Living Classroom Program.

 

The Living Classroom is a privately funded program which began offering lessons in grades K-3 in 5 schools
in 2008. In our first year we provided 171 lessons to 1,000 students while in our second year, we grew
significantly, providing 269 lessons in 6 schools reaching approximately 1,500 students. For the 2010-11
school year, we are offering lessons in all 7 elementary schools and adding lessons in grades 4-6, reaching far
more students.

 

The Living Classroom utilizes school gardens and outdoor areas as it provides children with hands-on learning experiences by teaching them engaging, garden-based lessons. These lessons complement the existing curriculum and provide the opportunity for students to experience concepts taught in the classroom through exploration of the natural world. While challenging, Living Classroom lessons are designed to hold student interest and have proven to be a fun departure from the normal routine for both students and teachers.

 

LASD elementary school campuses are alive with outdoor learning environments. Springer students are thrilled with their new multi-purpose garden featuring edible plants, native plant mounds, an outdoor seating area, compost center, greenhouse and an outdoor kitchen while children at Oak School, where the Living Classroom concept took root, continue to enjoy their expansive native plant and edible gardens. Loyola's "Secret Garden" is a popular place during lunch recess and now includes a new Native Habitat Garden with plants from Redwood, Chaparral, Oak Woodland, and Riparian plant communities. A dozen theme gardens including a Redwood Forest Habitat, California Native Habitat, Ancient Civilizations and Beneficial Insect/Pollinator garden are found near the classrooms at Santa Rita School. Children at Almond School welcomed their new Native Habitat Garden in the Spring of 2009 and Gardner Bullis School enjoys a Kindergarden/1st grade Edible/Sensory Garden and a second/third grade Native American and Tomato/Wheat theme gardens. Covington School welcomed five new redwood planter boxes outside their kindergarten classrooms in the fall of 2010.

 

Program Status

• For the 2009-2010 school year, the Living Classroom offers even more lessons to K-3 teachers and students. We are on track to teach nearly twice the number of lessons during the 2009-2010 school year as were scheduled during our inaugural year.
  
• Twenty-one trained volunteer docents are leading and assisting with lessons across the District.
  
• College interns from Santa Clara University are providing valuable assistance to the program.
  
• Parent volunteers, Eagle Scouts and PTAs are partnering with us to install new educational gardens at Loyola School (new native habitat garden completed in November, 2009) and upgrade the existing Almond School Native Habitat Garden with permanent interpretive signs and other improvements. Many themed mini-gardens were also installed this past fall at Santa Rita, Springer, and Loyola Schools (Ancient Civilizations, Colonial, Native American, Native Habitat, Pollinator, etc.)
  
• Area businesses including Summerwinds Nursery in Mountain View, Suncrest Nurseries, Satake and Coyote Valley Nurseries, Capitol Wholesale Nursery, Valley Crest Tree Company and Peninsula Building Materials donated plants and garden construction material for new gardens at several school sites in 2009.
  
• In the spring of 2009, the Living Classroom was recognized as a “Green Hero” by Clorox during a national competition.
  
• The Living Classroom is working with an upstart CSA organization, CSA Bay Area, run by a Los Altos High School graduate, which provides locally grown, organic produce to community members . One dollar is donated to the Living Classroom for every box of produce purchased.
  
• Whole Foods made the Living Classroom the beneficiary of their Pumpkin Fest last October and their Nickels for Nonprofits program running from October – December, 2009, raising funds for our program.
  
• Recent speaking engagements include:
  
  • The Annual Spring Science Conference sponsored by the Monterey Bay Science Project, the Monterey Bay Area Mathematics Project, Life Lab Science Program and CSUMB’s Monterey County Farm to School Partnership – March, 2009 in Monterey, CA
    
  • Life Lab’s Sustainability Summit – September, 2009 in Santa Cruz, CA
    
  • The Ecological Farming Association’s Eco-Farm Conference - January, 2010 in Monterey, CA