New outdoor classroom makes big strides in Santa Barbara
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.– It’s been close to a year since the opening of the new outdoor classroom at Harding Elementary School in Santa Barbara.
Since then, administrators say kids are thriving with educational benefits as a result of the innovative classroom.
Most of Harding Elementary School families live below the poverty threshold and 100 percent of the children qualify for free meals; over half are Emergent Multilingual Learners (EML).
In the Santa Barbara Unified School District, 97 percent of EML third graders read below grade level despite multiple programs designed to address the gap in achievement.
The principal at Harding, Veronica Binkley, took a different approach by converting a deteriorating cement playground into a stimulating outdoor environment with a curriculum to promote English language proficiency, scientific curiosity, and social-emotional learning.
The goal is to engage children in highly appealing developmentally appropriate activities which stimulate language and curiosity.
Parents, staff, and older students assisted in the creation of the outdoor classroom.
Principal Binkley has also developed partnerships with UCSB’s Gevirtz Graduate School of Education and other local educational organizations.
With the help of these partners, the outdoor classroom will be available beyond school hours offering the Harding community a safe and inviting green space where they can explore, learn, and grow.
The Women's Fund $100,000 grant covered the costs of demolition, grading, utilities, walkways, play surfaces, and plantings.
Santa Barbara Education Foundation (SBEF) served as fiscal agent for the grant.
The Santa Barbara Education Foundation (SBEF) promotes community investment in public education to ensure equity and access to an innovative, world-class education that inspires confidence, competence, and creativity in every student in the Santa Barbara Unified School District.
Santa Barbara Education Foundation is the nonprofit foundation that administers charitable grants made to support Santa Barbara Unified School District programs.
Photos from Women’s Fund tour of the project.
About the Harding University Partnership School Grant:
Active inquiry-oriented learning, especially in outdoor settings, has been shown to support improvement in language skills and the development of curiosity, self-confidence, and mental health among elementary-aged students.
A $100,000 Women’s Fund grant to the Santa Barbara Education Foundation for an Outdoor Learning Classroom at Harding University Partnership School provides new opportunities for exploring the natural environment through a variety of interdisciplinary investigations.
In addition, the neighboring community is able to use the classroom after school hours until dusk.
Located on the westside of Santa Barbara, the school educates an economically disadvantaged student population, with 100% eligible for free meals. Students such as these often have less access to green spaces than more economically advantaged students.
According to Principal Binkley, one of the fourth-grade teachers reported that more than half her students had never been to a beach—in Santa Barbara or elsewhere. More than half the student body are also Emergent Multilingual Learners, which can affect student achievement across subject areas.
Working in concert with the school’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Music) Lab, the Outdoor Learning Classroom will include a climbing mound, nature path, water-play station, reading teepee, multi-sensory gardens, and other spaces for inquiry, play, and performance.
Teachers are trained in using questions to stimulate learning and conversation through “Talk Communities” that involve children in highly engaging, developmentally appropriate activities focused on language, physical activity, curiosity, and social-emotional development.
