La Patera Garden

Centrally located on the La Patera campus, the school garden provides living laboratories in which students use hands-on learning to touch and often times taste what they are learning. Specific lessons change by grade level, season and current weather conditions. Some example themes include: plant and insect life cycles, decomposition/compost, health and nutrition, sustainability, weather and climate, food and agricultural systems, pollination/botany, cultural and historical foods, and horticulture.

The Explore Ecology School Gardens Program connects children to nature and teaches them how to grow their own organic food using the garden as an outdoor classroom. Explore Ecology provides a garden educator for weekly outdoor garden lessons (about 30-40 minutes each weekly) for grades Kinder, 2nd, 4th, and 6th grades. Fall classes are offered for 4th and 6th grades and spring classes are offered for K and 2nd grades. *Tk, 1, 3, and 5th receive Music, Dance, or Theater classes provided by instructors through Children's Creative Project.