Greendale Elementary School outdoor classroom & educational trail

Greendale Elementary School is located in Abingdon, Virginia within Washington County. It is comprised of grades preschool through fifth grade totaling approximately 380 students. Currently there are two outdoor classrooms and a nature trail on the property. The outdoor classrooms are divided between a preschool/ADA accessible garden and a kindergarten through fifth grade garden. Both gardens have been utilized in the past, but are currently underused and neglected.

The Community Design Assistance Center (CDAC) was tasked with developing conceptual designs to restore the two outdoor classrooms. The proposed outdoor classroom features would incorporate grade-appropriate Standards of Learning (SOL) objectives to help students make the connection between book knowledge and actual “hands on” application in the outdoor classroom, focusing primarily on the “micro” concepts of ecology, biology, aquatics, and soils. The classroom should also encourage different types of uses and include opportunities for lessons on all subject matter.

Greendale also wanted CDAC to explore extending the existing nature trail. This proposed trail would connect the existing nature trail to the existing fitness track on the lower portion of the school grounds. The proposed trail would incorporate a variety of learning stations that introduce the students to “macro” oriented concepts such as forests, land use, climate, and the solar system. In doing so, this would provide the opportunity for weaving in present day challenges of balancing land-use and economic needs with environmental protection and community sustainability. It would also provide the opportunity for real-life experiences of achievement through teamwork among classmates, teachers, parents, and partner organizations that share the same vision for improving the educational potential in local schools.

Greendale is trying to increase awareness for the need of physical activity and the value of a healthy life style. Both portions of the project address obesity and poverty issues by encouraging physical activity in the garden areas and on the loop trail. It also teaches students how to grow vegetables and how that relates to proper nutrition.

The Design Center also collaborated with students in the Spring 2014 Environmental Interpretation course at Virginia Tech’s Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation. These students developed the text for the interpretive materials (e.g. signs and kiosk) in the outdoor classroom areas and loop trail designs.