Learning Landscapes is a multifaceted experiential education program that creates outdoor classrooms on public school grounds along with detailed curricula that are linked to Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs).  

Learning Landscapes not only builds and maintains the outdoor classroom areas at each school but also implements a fully developed curriculum that is tailored to each grade level.  As standardized testing has become an evermore present part of the public education system teachers are pressed for time and flexibility.  Our goal is to give teachers and students a way to meet their testing goals using integrated subject matter, experiential learning and the natural environment.  Learning Landscapes provides students of diverse learning abilities and styles the opportunity to flourish by catering to the whole child.    

Each Learning Landscapes outdoor classroom is different as they are tailored to the individual interests, needs and physical site of each school.  Additionally, each outdoor classroom is made up of multiple components which occur in different combinations at each school.  These components include: classroom pavilions, pollinator gardens, vegetable gardens, rain gardens, small ponds and aquatic gardens, compost piles, nature trails, GLOBE Weather stations, and wildlife feeding/viewing stations.

At the elementary level, Learning Landscapes has an individual program for each grade level that corresponds to the classroom material being covered at the time of year the gardens are planted and harvested.  Most of the elementary programs center around planting gardens in the spring and returning the following fall (in the subsequent grade) to harvest, prepare and eat what they grew.  This model not only follows the growing season but provides continuity from one grade to the next so that students are continually building on what they have previously learned.  

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 At the middle and high school levels students participate in a variety of programs both during the school day and in an afterschool setting.  Learning Landscapes provides service opportunities for Washington County Community Scholars, a program through which students can earn credit to attend college courses free of charge at Virginia Highlands Community College.

Mentoring is an important part of Learning Landscapes.  Students at the middle and high school levels work with our elementary students and we also engage local college students to mentor both middle school and elementary students.  Working with college students gives our younger students exposure to areas of study they may not have known about and increases their interest in college in general.  Please feel free to contact us if you know of a group that would like to volunteer for work days or other activities.  

At the moment, Learning Landscapes has more demand than we can satisfy with our current resources.  It is very important to us that we maintain our commitment and involvement in our existing programs and to do that we must ensure that we don’t take on more than we can handle.  Learning Landscapes currently has a waiting list for programs and schools that would like to participate in the program.  Unfortunately, until funding and supplies are secured for our existing programs we do not have the capacity to expand.