OUSD School Gardens & Living Schoolyards
Our goal is to establish and maintain a garden at OUSD schools. School gardens provide urban children access to nature and reflect each child's inherent right to the following:
Access to healthy, locally-produced food
Understanding of food systems and the natural cycle
Social, economic and health justice
Hands-on alternatives to testing-based instruction
Self-reliance and character-building opportunities
Connection to local community
Through school gardens, students become stewards of the environment and gain a stake in the community and the world. This empowers them to discover the connections between personal health, education and opportunity. Explore this website for information about OUSD school gardens, policies, resources, and programs.
Contact Kat Romo, School Gardens and Living Schoolyards Program Manager at kat.romo@ousd.org.
OUSD School Garden Assessment Data Fall 2023.pdf18-2504 Board Policy - Facilities Living Schoolyard- BP 7110.pdfBoard Policy: Development of Living Schoolyards
Through this Board Policy on Living Schoolyards the Board seeks to ensure that OUSD’s school grounds support and strengthen the District’s commitment to children’s well-being, environmental resilience, community engagement, and equity.
OUSD Living Schoolyard Guidelines (published Nov. 2022).pdfLiving Schoolyard Guidelines
These Guidelines outline the design principles, components, materials, and processes needed to plan, implement, and manage outdoor play and learning environments that foster climate resiliency, community cohesion, health, and nature connection.
OUSD School Garden Toolkit
A user friendly manual containing easy to read chapters on all components of starting, developing, enhancing, stewarding, and utilizing an OUSD school garden.
Relevant tools, resources, and forms are linked in the RESOURCES section of the toolkit (Page 60 on).
