Santa Cruz School Garden Survey

In the Fall of 2007 UCSC Environmental Studies Intern Molly Greene took on the project of creating a survey to get "the state" of school gardens in Santa Cruz County. This survey was sent to all the public schools in the county. 28 schools replied. To see the raw data go here then scroll down a bit to see graphical representations of the responses.

Santa Cruz County School Garden Survey
Final Report by Molly Greene

As an intern at the Life Lab Science Program this fall, I took on the project of creating and distributing a survey about the current state of school gardens in Santa Cruz County K-12 public schools. Due to the fact that the quarter has come to an end and it is time to wrap up my project, the following is a write up based on data from the first 27 schools to respond.   The majority of the schools represented are elementary schools, with two middle schools, four high schools, and a couple of K-12 schools. Of the 27 schools, 85.2 percent have active school gardens and 14.8 percent do not.

The four schools that do not have active school gardens were asked whether they have ever had a school garden, to which only one responded no. For the other three schools, it has been one to two years since the garden was active, and in every case, lack of people power is the primary reason for not keeping it up. In addition to the need for teacher support, these schools would benefit greatly from volunteer help as well. Having one person act as garden coordinator would take the burden off of one teacher who already has a full plate. Finally, money plays a big issue, as materials and curriculums are in short supply.

The 23 school gardens that are active range in age from 35 years to 4 month. The majority of the gardens consist of at least a raised bed garden in one or more areas and/or a garden in the ground in one or more areas, and almost all of them have some sort of composting area. All the gardens are used in the fall and spring, most are used in the winter, and about 60 percent are also used over the summer.

In most cases, students used the garden approximately 1-2 hours a week. Though the survey does not go into detail about the specific context in which the garden is used, I would imagine that specific lessons and projects benefit from the aid of the garden, but that for the 56.5 percent who only use it on an intermittent basis, the garden is not a part of their daily/weekly curriculum. Science is the most common core academic subject taught using the garden, followed by mathematics and language arts. Extracurricular activities such as agricultural studies, health, environmental studies, and nutrition all rely heavily on the garden as a teaching tool. Most schools do not have garden clubs, but the two that do use the garden during recess or during FFA in class projects. There are a wide variety of instructional/curricular materials used to teach in garden, with Life Lab Science curriculums the most commonly used.

When it comes to the leadership, coordination, and organization of the garden, 60.9 percent of the schools rely on teachers, followed by paid and volunteer garden coordinators. Parent volunteers, students, and community volunteers also play a big part in keeping the gardens running. Less than five hours to ten hours per week is spent maintaining the garden for most of the schools, with summer maintenance managed by a combination of students, teachers, garden coordinators, and administrators.

Most schools get their money from grants, followed by PTA and school district funds and fundraisers. Of the schools supported by external networks, most rely on Life Lab and/or Nutrition Network. Average school garden budgets range from $1500-$2500, but a few schools have larger budgets ranging from $10,000 to $15,000. The funding is primarily divided between materials and instructional staff, with some schools factoring in maintenance staff as well. The schools with a paid garden staff, pay for approximately 15 hours per week.

The schools with school gardens are all excited about their gardens and are committed to keeping an active garden as a learning tool. Many schools acknowledge the importance of and need for funding, and are devoted to expanding their gardens in all sorts of new ways. The survey in full presents a number of ways the gardens are designed and used that can serve as suggestions for schools that are interested in starting their own gardens. Knowing that almost all schools with or without gardens would benefit from people power, especially when it comes to coordination, we at the Life Lab and at the UCSC environmental studies internship office can do our part of send students and volunteers into schools to assist.


	Santa Cruz School Garden Survey In the Fall of 2007 UCSC Environmental Studies Intern Molly Greene took on the project of creating a survey to get "the state" of school gardens in Santa Cruz County. This survey was sent to all the public schools in the county. 28 schools replied. To see the raw data go here then scroll down a bit to see graphical representations of the responses. Santa Cruz County School Garden Survey Final Report by Molly Greene As an intern at the Life Lab Science Program this fall, I took on the project of creating and distributing a survey about the current state of school gardens in Santa Cruz County K-12 public schools. Due to the fact that the quarter has come to an end and it is time to wrap up my project, the following is a write up based on data from the first 27 schools to respond. The majority of the schools represented are elementary schools, with two middle schools, four high schools, and a couple of K-12 schools. Of the 27 schools, 85.2 percent have active school gardens and 14.8 percent do not. The four schools that do not have active school gardens were asked whether they have ever had a school garden, to which only one responded no. For the other three schools, it has been one to two years since the garden was active, and in every case, lack of people power is the primary reason for not keeping it up. In addition to the need for teacher support, these schools would benefit greatly from volunteer help as well. Having one person act as garden coordinator would take the burden off of one teacher who already has a full plate. Finally, money plays a big issue, as materials and curriculums are in short supply. The 23 school gardens that are active range in age from 35 years to 4 month. The majority of the gardens consist of at least a raised bed garden in one or more areas and/or a garden in the ground in one or more areas, and almost all of them have some sort of composting area. All the gardens are used in the fall and spring, most are used in the winter, and about 60 percent are also used over the summer. In most cases, students used the garden approximately 1-2 hours a week. Though the survey does not go into detail about the specific context in which the garden is used, I would imagine that specific lessons and projects benefit from the aid of the garden, but that for the 56.5 percent who only use it on an intermittent basis, the garden is not a part of their daily/weekly curriculum. Science is the most common core academic subject taught using the garden, followed by mathematics and language arts. Extracurricular activities such as agricultural studies, health, environmental studies, and nutrition all rely heavily on the garden as a teaching tool. Most schools do not have garden clubs, but the two that do use the garden during recess or during FFA in class projects. There are a wide variety of instructional/curricular materials used to teach in garden, with Life Lab Science curriculums the most commonly used. When it comes to the leadership, coordination, and organization of the garden, 60.9 percent of the schools rely on teachers, followed by paid and volunteer garden coordinators. Parent volunteers, students, and community volunteers also play a big part in keeping the gardens running. Less than five hours to ten hours per week is spent maintaining the garden for most of the schools, with summer maintenance managed by a combination of students, teachers, garden coordinators, and administrators. Most schools get their money from grants, followed by PTA and school district funds and fundraisers. Of the schools supported by external networks, most rely on Life Lab and/or Nutrition Network. Average school garden budgets range from $1500-$2500, but a few schools have larger budgets ranging from $10,000 to $15,000. The funding is primarily divided between materials and instructional staff, with some schools factoring in maintenance staff as well. The schools with a paid garden staff, pay for approximately 15 hours per week. The schools with school gardens are all excited about their gardens and are committed to keeping an active garden as a learning tool. Many schools acknowledge the importance of and need for funding, and are devoted to expanding their gardens in all sorts of new ways. The survey in full presents a number of ways the gardens are designed and used that can serve as suggestions for schools that are interested in starting their own gardens. Knowing that almost all schools with or without gardens would benefit from people power, especially when it comes to coordination, we at the Life Lab and at the UCSC environmental studies internship office can do our part of send students and volunteers into schools to assist. © Life Lab Science Program