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Schoolyards, Gardens, and Outdoor Education
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Schoolyards, Gardens, and Outdoor Education
"Why try to explain miracles to your children when you can have them plant a garden."
-- Janet Kilburn Phillips
Green schoolyards create benefits on multiple levels: they help students play and build social-emotional learning; they create outdoor spaces for students to learn through exploration of the natural environment; tree plantings can capture carbon and provide critical shade that can have a huge impact on the negative effects of urban heat islands; native gardens can supply fresh local food to student and families while attracting beneficial pollinators; and so much more.
At PPS, we see inviting, inclusive, green outdoor spaces as a gateway for students to a lifetime of healthy outdoor habits and stewardship for the natural world.
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PPS Schoolyards: What's New?
We have a long way to go to having an outdoor learning space and a thriving green schoolyard at every school in PPS, but we're also really proud of all the greenery and garden programming we do have.
As of the 2023-24 school year, Portland Public Schools:
- Has over 60 school gardens;
- Has 19 schools that partner with garden education organizations, including Grow Portland, Growing Gardens, and FoodCorps, plus many more schools that directly hire part- or full-time school garden educators;
- Has over 200 stormwater facilities that cover more than 5,000 square feet of ground and help replenish and filter ground water back into Portland's soil;
- Partners with Depave and other local organizations to remove asphalt at our schools whenever possible. During the 2022-23 school year, PPS supported 5 depave projects across the district;
- Partners with Learning Landscapes and others to plant trees in our schools that help create shade and play for our students;
- Planted over 50 trees in the 22-23 school year, and has plans to plant over 100 trees in high priority areas in the upcoming year;
- Is working with partners to study the state of our schoolyards so that we can better understand how to strategically and equitably plan their improvements over the next five years.
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Are you a student, teacher, parent, or community member who is interested in creating a green schoolyard project at your school? Use the resources and follow the steps outlined below to get started.
Schoolyards Projects Process
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Creating a schoolyard project at your school
Portland Public Schools' Schoolyards Program collaborates with volunteer school groups to design, build, and sustain green schoolyards.
With guidance from District staff, volunteers create action plans, develop long-term Site Vision Plans, implement projects, utilize community partnerships, amplify outdoor learning, and create more equitable access to greenspace.
Green schoolyard projects may include trees, native plants, bioswales, edible gardens, and educational signage to provide shade, stormwater capture, and opportunities for learning.
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How to get started
How to get started:
- Brainstorm the long-term needs of the entire schoolyard
- Work with the school principal and PPS staff to design your project proposal and to consider how it fits into the holistic vision of a PPS schoolyard. Start by getting in touch with us at sustainability@pps.net.
- Get feedback from other volunteers (i.e. school leadership, staff, families) on priority projects
- Build an enthusiastic stakeholder base to help with planning, implementing, and maintenance.
- Consider the on-going maintenance of your project ideas
- Sustaining schoolyard greenspaces is the responsibility of the school community and your partners.
- Submit a Project Development Request
- Once you have an approved design for your project, work with your school principal and ask that they submit a Project Development Request.
- This step needs to be completed BEFORE any on-the-ground work is started or grant applications are submitted.
- Plan to submit your PDR form at least 6 months before you want to being implementing your project
- Brainstorm the long-term needs of the entire schoolyard
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What to expect from this process
- After you submit a Project Development Request form:
- Your project will be assigned to a Project Manager who will guide the volunteer group into next steps. This part of the process may include additional review and refinements on the design to ensure the project is maintainable, meets PPS facility and education standards, has documentation ready for any potential permitting requirements, and is economically viable. Asking questions early on will help ensure the success of the project in the long run.
- Schoolyard Projects usually take 6 months - 2 years to move through the entire project process to completion
- After you submit a Project Development Request form:
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Garden education
Outdoor learning and garden education is growing at PPS! Through our outstanding partner organizations, more and more PPS students are getting into the garden to learn about nature, stewardship, nutrition, and food system sustainability. Engaging youth in gardens gives them a sense of belonging and new perspectives on food, health, and the world around them.
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In the 2023-24 school year, for the first time, FoodCorps will be partnering with 7 PPS schools to provide garden education: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary, César Chávez K-8 School, Marysville Elementary, Woodlawn Elementary, Jason Lee Elementary, Chapman Elementary, and Woodmere Elementary.
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Growing Gardens will continue to partner with Lent, Scott, Kelly, Whitman, and Faubion, plus Rigler where Growing Gardens plans to offer culturally specific programming called Semillas Indígenas.
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Grow Portland currently partners with 9 sites: Bridlemile, Beverly Cleary, Clark, Creston, Grout, Harrison Park, James John, Rose City Park, and Vestal.
- Additional schools across the district partner with local organizations or directly hire garden teachers to provide outdoor learning at their schools.
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Stewardship Clean Up Events
Help steward our beautiful schoolyards by signing up for one of the many SOLVE and PPS collaborative clean up events taking around Portland Public Schools. You can sign up for an event that exists already, or, if you don't see an event for your school, you can organize one!
Contact communitycare@pps.net to learn more about signing up for an event or hosting a community care day at your school.
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Tree Plantings
In 22-23, PPS planted over 50 trees and engaged over 175 students in urban forestry education!
For the 23-24 school year, we are planning to plant over 100 trees at schools that reside in low canopy areas of the city. Many of these tree plantings start with community members, teachers, and parents; we are grateful that there is so much community enthusiasm for this important work.
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Where do schoolyards show up in the PPS Climate Crisis Response Policy? So glad you asked.
The policy states that PPS will...
- Maximize the carbon sequestration potential and other environmental benefits of green school yards and increase the ability of school grounds to adapt to climate extremes.
- Increase shade trees, green spaces, and de-pave projects, with highest priority in low-canopy neighborhoods.
- Maximize onsite stormwater management in compliance with city code.
- Establish green school yard plans to care for school grounds.
- Phase out gas-powered equipment used for grounds maintenance
- Treat the outdoor and green spaces of each school as a learning space and involve students in nature-based grounds improvements and design. Support opportunities for students in every PPS elementary school to have outdoor education experiences.