Apple Blossom Elementary: Sebastopol

The garden serves as an outdoor experiential classroom where students participate in growing their own food using sustainable practices that foster connection to the land. With this SGN Garden-Based Education grant (2009-2010), the school hired a Garden Education Coordinator to lead garden activities, organize parent volunteers and plan garden-based science with environmental education staff. Now all students can participate on a weekly basis in the garden.

Garden lessons in each grade integrate exploration of plants, insects, riparian ecosystems and soil science. Fourth grade teachers started a native plant garden that includes ornamental and edible plants to supplement units on CA history and geography. The Environmental Science Education series, developed & funded by the Bay Institute STRAW (Students & Teachers Restoring a Watershed) program and the Twin Hills Apple Blossom Educational Foundation, meets state standards through garden-based laboratory science experiences.

The PTA Green Team organizes volunteer days and raises funds, while the PTA Wellness Committee plans to help integrate garden produce into the school lunch program as the production of the garden increases. With help from the non-profit Compost Club, the lunch waste compost program has cut garbage pick-up in half. 5th graders have compost duty and create five-pound bags of compost to sell for fund raising. Orchard View high school students help construct worm bins, manage compost and teach lessons to elementary students. Planned garden expansion includes up to a dozen 4 x 10 planter boxes and in-ground beds, fruit trees, berry bushes and an herb garden.

Flowery Elementary School: Fetters Hot Springs

Flowery Elementary sits in Fetters Hot Springs, just north of the town of Sonoma. They are a dual immersion elementary school spanning grades K-5. In kindergarten and 1st grades, 90% of instructional time is in Spanish with an emphasis on Spanish literacy. As students progress through the grades, English language instruction increases. By 4th grade, instructional time is nearly evenly divided between Spanish and English.

They're using their Cooking from the Garden grant 2011-2012 to promote healthy foods and provide students the opportunity to sample a wide range of foods that are healthy and organically grown. Students tend the garden on a year round basis and harvest the vegetables. Students receive a healthy snack at the end of each garden class, typically a vegetable on a piece of baguette, sunflower seeds, almonds, fruit, and herb samples with olive oil on bread.

The garden coordinator works with each class twice a month for a one hour session. Each teacher recruits one or two garden volunteers to assist during he scheduled visit. The Parent Teacher Organization has made the garden program the main priority for fundraising.

Dunbar Elementary: Glen Ellen

The school & community garden sits on almost one-third of an acre on an oak-studded campus. The site boasts 12 irrigated raised beds, a Three Sisters garden, butterfly garden, herb garden, memorial garden, native plants and a small orchard. The outdoor classroom includes an arbor, garden shed, greenhouse, benches and a shade structure –built by parent and community volunteers such as Sonoma Valley Community Action Network. Supplies and professional development have also been funded by Friends of Dunbar School Parent Teacher Organization (FODSPTO), Sonoma Valley Education Foundation, Ruth Riddell Foundation and local businesses.

With this SGN Garden-Based Education grant (2006-2009) garden classes are offered weekly to all K-5 students. The garden curriculum touches on a variety of subjects -- from composting to testing the efficacy of natural pesticides to studying the anatomy of insects and worms. Lessons are tied to state educational standards and augment classroom studies in science (photosynthesis, plant anatomy, geology, weather), language arts (vocabulary, journaling), math (mapping, measurement), social science (agricultural history) and art. In addition, team building and life skills, such as responsibility and common sense, are encouraged through hands-on environmental stewardship.

Nutrition is taught through cooking lessons using garden produce, such as making pesto or cucumber salad. A goal is to bring fresh foods from the garden into the cafeteria and to build a garden kitchen. Students also put on an annual garden party and Farmer's Market, create art in the garden and contribute to community science in the annual Great Backyard Bird Count. Bloomin’ News, a garden newsletter, is published and distributed periodically.

Guerneville School: Guerneville

Guerneville School's year round Garden and Nutrition Program includes a beautiful, sunny 20,500 sq. ft. fenced garden of three raised beds, ten growing beds in ground, a storage shed, and watering system. It is situated in 5.7 acres of riparian wetlands on the Russian River, and surrounded by an old orchard. Curriculum activities in the garden are available to all students and include all aspects of food growing, plant science, cooking and nutrition, wetlands habitat and restoration, native history, journaling, and art. Additional gardening opportunities are provided in our after school Garden Club.