DEFINITION
Grounds on the site of a school with the opportunity to provide stimulation, exercise, social settings, educational illustration, emotional recharge, creativity stimulation and a connection to nature.

AKA
outdoor classroom

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

• Is it safe?
  • Perimeter fences help keep students in and strangers out.
  • Playground equipment must be well-maintained and in line with current safety standards and sufficiently spaced from other uses(see links below).
  • Sightlines must be maintained for proper supervision.
  • School Gardens must avoid use ofpoisonous plantsand hazardous chemicals, such as certain fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides, lead paint on play structures, contaminated tire chips as a cushioning surface, or materials containing VOCs.
• Does it promote the health of the students and staff?
  • A school garden should be designed to provide the most benefit and interest during the school year, while it is in use and interest and utility, even in the winter.
    
  • Natural areas have great restorative effects after stressful situations, as does exercise( see Healing gardens by Clare Cooper Marcus and Marni Barnes).
    
  • Teachers and staff will appreciate an outdoor space where they can get away from students, relax and de-stress.
    
  • Play areas should promote physical activity and fitness. They should also provide opportunities for imaginative play.
• Does it support curriculum?
  • School Gardens are a great opportunity to apply lessons to the outside world. Science, nutrition, art, physical education, cooperation, math, economics, cultural studies, and ecology, are just a few topics a garden can help illustrate(see link below).
• Does it meet the needs of all types of students?
  • Provide a variety of ways to enjoy the outdoors, accommodating different gendered activities, different ages and levels of ability and different cultural preferences.
    
  • Provide social spaces and spaces to be alone.
    
  • Provide seating with shade,
    
  • Provide places for less physical games, like game tables.
    
  • Incorporate spaces and structures for disabled children into the whole that don't set them apart.
    
  • Offer athletic opportunities for people not comfortable joining in with team sports.
• Is it an asset to the neighborhood?
  • The schoolyard can illustrate sustainable practices to the general community.
    
  • It can offer an opportunity for community members to get involved, and can set aside space for vegetable plots outside of school hours, in exchange for the stewardship of neighbors.
    
  • It can provide habitat and natural areas, infiltrate stormwater, and mitigate pollution.
    
  • It can provide exercise and recreational facilities outside of school hours.
    
  • It can be a source of nutritional and affordable produce.

ILLUSTRATION

Schoolyard Galatasaray Highschool (Galatasaray Lisesi), Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey. Photo by Christian Koehn

CASE STUDIES
Glencoe Elementary School, Portland
Helen Gordon Child Development Center, Portland
FUPAM, Sao Paulo
Sidwell Friends Middle School, Washington, D.C.
Mount Tabor Middle School, Portland
St. Margaret Mary School Native Garden, Chicago
Edible Schoolyard

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
School Garden Curriculum
US Consumer Product Safety Commission Handbook for Public Playground Safety
Arbor Day Foundation "Nature Explores" Program: http://www.arborday.org/explore/