Outdoor Classroom Our Sites

EarthWorks’ Outdoor Classrooms are found in many Boston neighborhoods. Our partner schools have orchards and an educational garden or butterfly garden on the school grounds.

The Agassiz Arboleda, the orchard at the Louis Agassiz Elementary School abuts a major road in Jamaica Plain, is often used as a cut-through to the school. An Agassiz School parent was instrumental in creating an orchard and garden in an empty lot on school property in the late 1980’s. Many of the fruit trees were planted in 1993, when EarthWorks was invited to help with the site. The Agassiz students now tend the orchard and garden beds as part of our Outdoor Classrooms program. The Agassiz Arboleda also benefits from the involvement of many neighbors who help care for the site.

School Location: 20 Child Street, Jamaica Plain
The orchard is located on South Street, between Carolina Avenue and Child Street.

Plants: Eleven apples, three plums (Stanley Prune, Japanese/American Hybrid), Red Haven peach, cherry, rosa rugosa, and black currants.

The Mary E. Curley Middle School, located on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain, is one of EarthWorks’ most prominent orchards. In the mid-1990’s students planted a large orchard in the front yard of the school, and since 1996 students have been caring for the orchard trees in science and enrichment classes. The orchard also gets a lot of use from neighbors who harvest much of the produce. In addition to the large orchard, and there are three perennial flower gardens and a large compost system.

School Location: 493 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain The orchard is in the school’s front yard.

Plants: Two Northstar cherries, three apples (Cortland, Liberty, and Mission Hill Striped), three plums (Stanley Prune & Peach), two pears (Seckel & Parker), three Hardy kiwis, two filazels, two hazels, one crabapple, one Belle of Georgia peach, two nectarines, June berries, grapes, raspberries, and currants.

A class meets in the Hennigan Orchard in 2001.

The James W. Hennigan Elementary School’s orchard was planted in 1990, and students have cared for the fruit trees since then. In 1998 a butterfly garden and educational garden were added as part of the Boston Schoolyard Initiative Project. Teachers at the Hennigan were instrumental in developing and testing EarthWorks’ Outdoor Classroom Curriculum Guide. Many of our curriculum units were piloted at the Hennigan including our 5th grade ecology studies, a 12-week indoor worm unit (3rd grade), and 2nd grade gardening units. We also began our City Year partnership at the Hennigan School. Children do much of the maintenance work during summer and afterschool programs.

School Location: 200 Heath Street, Jamaica Plain 02130
The orchard and butterfly garden are behind the school, near the corner of Day and Minden Streets. The orchard is behind a locked gate, but the butterfly garden is open to the public. The educational garden, also open to the public, is at the corner of Minden and Schiller Streets. There are two apricot and two plum trees in front of the school on Heath Street.

The Site of the Hennigan Orchard prior to planting in 1990.

Orchard: The orchard sits atop an outcropping of Roxbury Puddingstone behind the school. Even though the orchard overlooks the large VA Hospital Complex, as you pass through the gates, it is as if the city around you disappears. There are nine fruit trees where children can eat their fill without care – juice smeared faces are common. In summer and early fall, the grass grows above many children’s heads and is full of blooming wildflowers. There is also a spot designated for digging – children can dig here without worrying about the lawn or plants.

Plants: Black & Red Raspberries, Yarrow, Filazels, 2 Apples, Black & White Mulberries, 2 Plums, 2 Pie Cherries, Peach, and Crabapple.

Educational Garden: The Educational Garden is located behind the school at the intersection of Minden and Schiller Streets, near a major entrance to the Hennigan Schoolyard. Vandals plagued the site until EarthWorks’ Hennigan teacher began to engage the young people living across the street from the garden. These kids, aged 4 to 15, were not enrolled in any official program but spent hours working in the garden. Our work with these neighbors was informal, and yet very educational. These kids have become caretakers of the garden and have helped stem vandalism.

The Educational Garden offers an unusual, and much-needed respite from higher-pressure programming. Many parents have told us that their children emerge much more relaxed and centered after two hours of gardening, cooperative games, and drawing/sketching in their natural environs. The children have been thrilled to eat vegetables that they themselves planted earlier in the year: sweet peas, beans, tomatoes, cilantro and other herbs have been the kids’ favorite crops.

Partial Plant list: Buffalo Currant, Beach Plum, Butterfly Bush, Black-eyed Susan, Echinacea, Cosmos, Raspberries, Strawberries, Grapes, Lemon Balm, Mints, Parsley, Lambs Ear, Garlic, Borage, Lavender, and many annual flowers and vegetables.

Butterfly Garden: In April, 1999, following many brainstorming discussions with students, EarthWorks and its Hennigan teaching partners planned and planted a butterfly/insectary garden in five old, unused beds near the hilltop orchard. Learning about, and planting the insect-attracting plants became a major focus of our work with third, fourth, and fifth grade students throughout 1999. Our project participants helped plan, plant, and maintain this wonderfully colorful garden. The children loved digging the beds, preparing the soil, and mixing in compost that they themselves had made the previous fall and winter. The students helped select and plant shrubs and flowers that would attract beneficial insects to the garden and orchard. In addition to enjoying the bright colors of the flowers, the children were ECSTATIC when they saw butterflies and ladybugs landing on flower petals. In the years since, the children have collected seeds each fall to plant the following spring.

Partial Plant List: Mints, Parsley, Chives, Lamb’s ear, oregano, lavender, marjoram, Butterfly Bush, milkweed, Raspberries, Yarrow, Tansy, clovers, Fennel, Echinacea, Bee Balm, Garlic Chives, Cosmos, Zinnias, Bachelor Buttons and other annual flowers.

The John P. Holland Elementary School orchard was planted by third, fourth, and fifth graders in 1999. The school is located on the site of a former farm, and there are many older fruit trees on the school grounds. Four old pears and apples anchor the orchard, and the newly planted trees are thriving. There is also a wildlife path where shrubs with fruit more suitable for animals and birds border an outcropping of Roxbury Puddingstone. An active partner EarthWorks Outdoor Classroom, more than 1,100 Holland students have participated in the program since 2000.

Location: 85 Olney Street, Dorchester. The orchard is located behind the school, along Olney Street.

Plants: Three Red Haven peaches, four plums, two serviceberries, three Concord grapes, six hazels, two currants, five cherries, two apricots, a Seckel pear, raspberries, and wine berries.

The Hugh Roe O’Donnell Elementary School in East Boston has a small educational garden in the corner of its largely asphalt schoolyard, and a lavishly landscaped front yard where children can study plant life. As some of the only open space in the neighborhood, the schoolyard gets heavy use. Garden vandalism is a major issue. Children living near the school guard the garden against vandalism after school and over weekends. During the winter months, EarthWorks leads a major worm-composting program in the second grade. There is an active summer program that ensures the garden gets care during the summer months.

Location: 33 Trenton Street, East Boston. The garden is behind the school on Lexington Street.

Plants: Most of the garden is planted with annuals. There also are raspberries, strawberries, mints and perennial herbs.

One of our original school partners, the William E. Russell Elementary School's Outdoor Classroom proves that a large plot of land is not needed to create a successful program. Located on a busy street in Dorchester, the orchard and butterfly garden are planted in the front yard of the school. Despite the small space, there are 4 apples, 3 filazels, 2 pie cherries and raspberries in the orchard. Each fall the children plant bulbs, and the orchard gardens are alive with color in the early spring. Children learn about pollination by studying the large lower parts of daffodils. The blossoms also provide children with a sense of pride in their school. One child remarked upon seeing the flowers, “Now everyone will know that this is a good place to go to school.”

The flowers are helpful in other ways too. For years the Russell schoolyard was used as a neighborhood dog park. Taking a class outside was often a risky trip because many did not clean up after their dogs. Once the new gardens were added in the yard, the neighbors began cleaning up or taking the dogs elsewhere.

The Russell School is across the street from the Everett Square Orchard, which was planted in part by the school’s third grade. The children occasionally visit this orchard, taking the Outdoor Classroom program beyond the schoolyard.

Location: 750 Columbia Road, Dorchester. The orchard is in the school’s front yard.

Partial plant List: Four apples (Golden Russet, Feather Red, Liberty & Macoun varieties), Two Northstar Pie cherries, three filazels, and raspberry bushes.

Everett Square Orchard is directly across the street from the Russell School next to the Blake House, Boston’s oldest house. The square was planted in 2002 with eleven apples, nine pears, 2 apricots, two cherries, two peaches, and two plums. The orchard compliments the historic Blake House. Many of the varieties of fruit planted at this site originated in Dorchester or other areas around Boston during or prior to the nineteenth century.

Location: Intersection of East Cottage Street and Columbia Road, Dorchester

Plants: Eleven apples (Roxbury Russet, Northern Spy, Ashmead’s Kernel, Pumpkin Sweet, Black Oxford, Baldwin, Green Sweet, Calville Blanc d’Hiver, and Winter White Pearmain varieties), two cherries (Montgomery & Morello), nine pears (Seckel, Dana Hovey, Bartlett, Bosc, Clapp’s Favorite, Tyson), two apricots (Blenheim & Moorpark), two George VI peaches, and two plums (Mirabelle & Green Gage). Also one Gray Birch (Betula populifolia)

EarthWorks
34 Linwood Street
Roxbury, MA 02119
Ph: 617.442.1059