Charter School Gardens

The gardens at SLVUSD Charter School offer a vibrant, hands-on learning experience for every student, from TK to high school. Aligned with California State Standards, our garden program promotes curiosity, environmental stewardship, and a strong sense of community. Guided by the motto “Be Kind,” students build resilience, patience, and empathy as they learn about plant life, sustainability, and the rewards of giving back. They engage deeply with the environment through growing food, composting, seed saving, soil enrichment, and even contributing to our community Seed Library!

Each of our Charter Gardens offers unique, hands-on learning tailored to different age groups:

• Learning Garden (TK–5th Grade): Young students explore the world of plants through sensory activities, learning about plant needs, plant and insect life cycles, and soil health. Projects like making bee boxes, planting for their ecosystem, and composting introduce them to environmental stewardship. Students focus on growing edible plants that they can explore with their five senses.

• Tea Garden (6th–8th Grade): Middle schoolers focus on growing plants they can use for making tea, native plant conservation, and ecosystem balance. They study weather effects in the garden, plant ecology, landscape design, and waste diversion, gaining an understanding of sustainable gardening. 

• Food Garden (Coast Redwood High School): Our Environmental Horticulture class allows students to examine plant biology, human interactions with plants, and how those interactions affect our environment. Students are given many hands-on opportunities to learn about plants and gardening in the larger framework of how good stewardship affects local and global ecosystems. Students learn about form and structure, plant reproduction, seed dispersal and germination, propagation, soil science, and agricultural practices that help bring human activities more in line with the systems nature already has in place. Our High school students also dive into sustainable agriculture through companion planting, crop rotation, composting, harvesting, cooking, and mentoring younger students in their gardens. This class is designed to shift our thinking toward being stewards of the environment and conscientious participants in the natural world.

Growing Minds, Growing Hearts

Discover the joy of learning in our Charter Gardens, where students dig deep, grow with purpose, and connect with nature daily. Here, students and parents become part of a thriving community that values curiosity, resilience, and hands-on discovery. Join us and watch your student blossom in a school that brings learning to life!