Montlake Elementary Greenhouse & Garden Project

“ I think that more schools should do gardens with lettuce, so the kids can have a big harvest party like we do. ”

Montlake Elementary School is an urban, public school in Seattle. Like many urban environments, most of our school grounds are asphalt and concrete. Our greenhouse and garden are now a spot of beauty and nature for our kids as well as a hands-on learning environment integrating science, math, language arts and social studies. Montlake School has 248 students in 9 mixed age classrooms. The Greenhouse and Garden Project coordinator, Cheri Bloom, an urban horticulturist, recognized the potential of our unused greenhouse to provide an integrated environmental program at Montlake. All children use the greenhouse and the entire school actively recycles and gardens. The Montlake parents work to keep Montlake a pesticide-free school. The Montlake neighbors volunteer in the garden, help with gardening and maintain the greenhouse over the summer.

“ I love to get dirty and help in the garden. ”

The greenhouse project provides a hands-on experience in teaching children to grow organic food. Planting, growing, and harvesting integrate with every aspect of the Montlake K-5 curriculum. With a strong emphasis on stewardship and building community relationships, Montlake students are involved in restoration projects at Interlaken Park and grow herbs that are used by neighborhood restaurant Café Lago in exchange for hands-on cooking lessons at the restaurant.

Each class meets in the greenhouse one hour per week. We teach curriculum that progresses seasonally by incorporating the study of soil, composting, worm bins, seed and vegetative propagation in conjunction with our science curriculum. Our garden is focused on organic salad greens because of the many learning possibilities they offer, their seasonality with the school calendar, and the community service opportunities they offer for our “Row for the Hungry” project.

The greenhouse has been restored from its former use as a storage unit to a thriving space filled with plants grown by our students. The garden is restored and has become a virtually year round salad green and herb oasis. We have an art program centered on botanical illustration, floral design and natural dying. Most recently, the project received the King County Earth Hero Award.

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