About DR GW Carver Elementary
About DR GW Carver Elementary
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Our schoolyard ecology
Carver is in the 8.5 - Mississippi Alluvial & SE USA Coastal Plains ecoregion. This ecoregion has over 3000 native plants and 23 keystone plants. We are 2 miles from the Ogeechee River and 20 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. We have Ogeechee and Pooler Series soil. Our campus is 50+ acres and includes bioswales, constructed wetland, swamp, and forest with maintained trail. Our rich, biodiverse campus supports wetland and Coastal Plain species including Eastern Red Swamp Crayfish, Two-toed Amphiuma, Greater Siren, Red Winged Blackbird, Asters, Cattail, and Primrose-Willows.
Our demographics
Carver Elementary in Richmond Hill, is a public school serving students who are 9-11 years old in 4th and 5th grades. The school has 681 students, with a 20:1 student–teacher ratio. The student body is approximately 53% White, 18% African American, 13% Hispanic, and the remainder multiracial or Asian; 37% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Carver’s diverse population includes English language learners and military-connected children from Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield. Academically, 64% of students meet or exceed proficiency in math and 52% in reading. Carver’s Outdoor Education Program provides equitable, field-based science experiences for all learners.
Outdoor Education at Carver
At Carver Elementary, we cultivate curiosity, connection, and care for the natural world by engaging every 4th and 5th grader in student-centered, place-based Outdoor Education. Rooted in the diverse coastal ecosystems of Bryan County, our program empowers students to ask questions, explore local phenomena, and conduct authentic research that supports the health of the Ogeechee River Basin. Through hands-on field investigations, unstructured nature play, and community science, students develop scientific habits of mind, social-emotional resilience, and a lifelong sense of environmental stewardship. Our goal is to cultivate nurturing connections to nature by inviting every child to explore, wonder, and learn alongside local ecosystems while guiding them to become thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and changemakers devoted to stewardship of themselves, their community, and the environment.
Carver's Schoolyard Ecology
“There's a treasure I'd like to share with you, one that is hidden at the heart of nature. To find it, you'll need a special place outdoors where
you can be alone and feel free; a place where you can see animals, hear a bird's song, and feel the wind. Perhaps you already know of
such a place” - Joseph Cornell in Journey to the Heart of Nature: A Guided Exploration, 1994
Most learning will take place outdoors across the diverse habitats on our 50+ acre campus at G.W. Carver Upper Elementary, located in the Ogeechee River Basin in Richmond Hill, Georgia. Students gather in our indoor ecology lab to use our tv-connected microscope, have large group discussions, conduct independent investigations during poor weather, and store our collection of equipment, specimens, and materials. Our property is nicknamed “The Triangle” and includes multiple outdoor learning habitats: The Wetland, The Ditch, The Swamp, The Forest, The Yard, and The Ponds. Each habitat supports field-based investigations that connect directly to Georgia’s ecosystems and science standards. Our school system is building us a pole barn to provide shade for investigations.
These habitats connect to our schoolyard stormwater system, which drains into Sterling Creek and ultimately the Ogeechee River (which is 2 miles away). This gives students a tangible, place-based understanding of how water, soil, and biodiversity are connected within a living watershed and is in the community where they live. Carver earned the 2024–2025 National Wildlife Federation Eco-Schools Green Flag Award and the 2025 Georgia Council for Outdoor Learning Schoolyard Challenge and has been nominated for Center For Green Schools Best of Green Schools Award, recognizing our commitment to field-based, conservation-focused education. All investigations take place outdoors, grounded in the real ecology of our campus habitats, connecting students to the Ogeechee River Basin through inquiry, stewardship, and authentic science. Carver’s Outdoor Education program is built on the North American Conservation Education Strategy (AFWA, 2022), North American Association for Environmental Education's (NAAEE) "Guidelines for Excellence, and the NGSS K–12 Framework for Science Education, which emphasize learning through authentic, field-based inquiry. These frameworks guide our approach to helping students think and work like scientists through real-world, data-driven investigations.
Carver is located in the Ogeechee River Basin and is two miles from the Ogeechee River and approximately 20 miles from the Atlantic Ocean.
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