{mclean} Mary McLean

Outdoor Learning Coordinator

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Building a Learning Oasis?..
The Tuckahoe Discovery Schoolyard

"Kids in K-12 spend 15,500 hours in school. Only one percent is spent outdoors? In outdoor spaces curriculum is learned, not taught."
National Schoolground Planning Group

The Tuckahoe Discovery Schoolyard Project is a shared vision of the principal, teachers and parents at Tuckahoe to expand the school learning environment to the natural world. The mission is to create an exemplary, educational schoolyard. Principal Brown explains, " Our use of outdoor classrooms encourages broad-based learning that taps into the strengths and interests of all our students. It promotes an interconnectedness on two levels- by blending the entire learning community and bringing so many areas of the curriculum together in a real-life setting."

Tuckahoe's past interest in gardening, outdoor expeditions, our Colonial Fair and participation in International Schoolgrounds Day have all prepared the way for the community's interest in this project. The phased project we envision includes a courtyard pond, a certified wildlife habitat, outdoor amphitheater, classroom pavilion, observation patio, colonial log cabin and multiple theme gardens.

We are not alone! There is a growing, international movement recognizing schoolyards as an excellent educational resource. In the U.S., a number of states and cities already fund, and in other ways support, permanent outdoor "classrooms". Some of the best programs are in Boston, Chicago, Houston, Georgia, North Carolina , and most recently in Maryland. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has identified more than 40 organizations devoted to schoolground enhancement. National Wildlife Federation has certified almost 1,500 schoolyard wildlife habitats. A wealth of outdoor learning curriculum have been written to provide teachers with lesson plans for teaching conventional and SOL objectives outdoors.

We have a great opportunity, because of full school renovation in 2000, to start from scratch building a model schoolyard for Arlington, and for Virginia. Our vision is for a hands-on, learning schoolyard used in multiple ways. There are subjects taught with the outdoors as their inspiration (writing, art); subjects taught with the outdoors as their context (science, math); and an emphasis given to using the outdoors to teach the essentials of environmental stewardship so necessary to the quality of our lives.

Educators have long known that kids learn best using multiple senses. They learn best when subjects are given a context and they learn best when they love how they are learning. An educational schoolyard provides all of these opportunities. We want to create a place of beauty and opportunity that will distinguish Tuckahoe and many schools to follow. Tuckahoe Discovery Schoolyard gives each and every child a better chance to learn and to love the process of learning through a natural connection to the outdoors.