The Elementary School's Courtyard Garden has been an on-going project for the past ten years. It began as the project of one class of students working with their parents over a series of weekends in the spring. The Courtyard Garden has grown into an integral learning space that continues to evolve, with over 100 children calling the garden 'theirs' at any given time.

Children extend their study of plant and animal lifecycles maintaining the Courtyard Garden using hands-on experience weeding, mulching, and adding new plantings annually. This project demonstrates the student’s civic pride and gives responsibility into their hands to maintain this portion of the school’s grounds.

This is a tremendous learning space which is home to many birds and insects. Children learn respect for nature and get to express their feelings about the garden through reflective written exercises such as poetry and journaling as well as on-going discussion. This project has expanded to include children's artwork, a teacher's hand-painted signs which identify many of the plants, composting garden waste, identifying the various birds that visit and live in the garden on a regular basis and feeding birds year-round.