WARWICK — The first phase of new outdoor learning at Warwick Community School, to be called the David Young Outdoor Preschool Classroom after the longtime Warwick town coordinator, got underway this week.
The project involves a four-phase plan, according to Superintendent Carole Learned-Miller. The other three phases encompass the completion of the remaining areas of the nature discovery yard and the playground, which include the main playground and a teaching garden. Construction on these areas will start when funding has been secured.
For Phase 1, however, funding is already in hand, Learned-Miller said. The school applied for and received various grants, and also held a “May Day” fundraiser at the Hitchcock Center for the Environment in Amherst. The fundraiser had a goal of $12,000 and ended up raising $14,232.
In addition to funding, Warwick community members Larry Kilroy and Brandon Schillemat are contributing a fence and a mud kitchen, respectively.
The Hitchcock Center for the Environment was purposefully chosen as the venue for the fundraiser because it represents what Warwick Community School is hoping to accomplish with its outdoor learning facilities.
“We have taken field trips with families, elementary school staff and community members to visit other model nature discovery yards at the Hitchcock Center for the Environment, the Hampshire Early Childhood Center and the Village School,” Learned-Miller said. “Our community is deeply dedicated to the environment, so everyone has really supported this initiative as it will provide new, beautiful spaces for learning in and about nature.”
The David Young Outdoor Preschool Classroom will be located right outside the preschool and kindergarten classrooms. Both of these rooms have doors that lead to the outside of the building where the outdoor learning area will be located, and while it will be used as an outdoor recreation area for the students, it will also align strategically with the subjects taught at those grade levels.
“This area will be fenced in so that students can explore freely, [and] will contain outdoor seating for lessons, teaching gardens and a mud kitchen for mud and water play, among other features,” Learned-Miller said. “Unlike our current early childhood playground, it will be fully accessible. Components of this preschool play space will also include a log structure for climbing that will be incorporated into a small grassy hill.”
Learned-Miller described Warwick Community School’s approach to teaching as “nature-centered, place- and project-based learning.”
“This means that students, in addition to their studies of math and English language arts, are always engaged in a project where they are learning about some aspect of the natural environment in Warwick,” she elaborated. “Elements such as mud kitchens surrounded by non-toxic, native perennial flowering plants and berries, which students can pick and be creative with, will provide joyful, imaginative play experiences.”
Warwick Community School tapped Conway-based Abound Design, the company that designed the landscape at the Hitchcock Center for the Environment, to design its outdoor classroom. But Abound Design owner Owen Wormser said that creating a space for children was particularly special.
“Being able to create an environment like this for children is as good as it gets,” Wormser said.
And while the outdoor classroom will be located at Warwick Community School, Learned-Miller hopes that the surrounding community will make use of the space.
“We seek to create an early childhood playground and discovery yard that is a community center for both the residents of Warwick and students attending the Warwick Community School,” Learned-Miller said. “We envision a space that brings our homeschooling, private, public and [School Choice] students together to learn and to play. We hope it will be a meeting place where community members can gather and build relationships. Having such a community hub will be a tremendous asset in our rural town.”
While an outdoor classroom and playground are ideal in rural communities like Warwick, Learned-Miller believes that what the school is doing can be a model for rural, suburban or urban schools and municipalities across western Massachusetts, and the state as a whole.
Fundraising for Phases 2, 3 and 4 has already begun, with a goal of $285,750. To donate, visit givebutter.com/warwick-discovery-playyard-components-qyct17.
