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Schoolyard Habitat Program
Bringing Life to Schools, and Schools to Life
SGN supports Sonoma County schools in creating and enlivening garden-based learning ecosystems. We provide technical consultation, plants, materials, curriculum, and training to help teachers and students create and engage with wildlife habitat on their school grounds.
Schoolyard Habitats incorporate food, water, shelter, and space in order to attract and provide a home to local wildlife. Even a small plot can be designed to attract native pollinators, hummingbirds, song birds, butterflies, and beneficial insects! A thoughtful selection of plant diversity will bring a plethora of wildlife species to your school. Additionally, nesting boxes, feeders, and watering sites can be used to improve and diversify your habitat.
Available Funding & Support
We provide support in site consultation, garden design, and ongoing guidance. Schools also receive funding for native plants and seeds, tools, materials, compost, mulch, drip irrigation, gopher baskets, and signage after submitting a project plan.
Our Schoolyard Habitat Program Manager will guide you through the process to ensure a successful project.
Applications are now closed. Please check back in Fall 2025 for open enrollment.
Benefits of Schoolyard Habitats
Improve habitat for wildlife
Native plant gardens provide habitat for local and migratory wildlife—including native pollinators, song birds, small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beneficial insects, and more. Native plants have also co-evolved with local ecosystems, making them adapted to existing soil and climatic conditions, and generally requiring minimal site preparation or maintenance after establishment.
Improve your school's learning environment
Natural habitats create a beautiful, lush, immersive and sensory learning environment with greenery, texture, shade, edible fruit, fragrant flowers, buzzing insects, bird calls, and peaceful spots for sitting alone or meeting in groups.
Support classroom lessons
Schoolyard habitats are naturalized areas that can be used for classroom field studies and observations. They offer hands-on learning opportunities where conceptual knowledge can be brought to life and made more accessible, tangible, exciting, and inspiring.
Teach ecological literacy and stewardship
Natural habitats help educate students about our region's native ecology and the cultural practices of Indigenous Peoples. As learners engage with and care for natural habitats, they also develop their own identity within ecological relations. These spaces empower young people with a sense of belonging and response-ability—deepening their understanding of the world around them, and their ability to participate in and influence it.
Foster curiosity, wonder, exploration, play, creativity, and gratitude for life.
Want to install a Schoolyard Habitat?
Step 1: Identify a Schoolyard Habitat Space. Identify minimum 500 square feet of contiguous space for planting—this is a little bigger than a two car garage. This space can be hedgerow around your current food garden, or a new planting space with paths.
Step 2: Create a Schoolyard Habitat Team. Build a Schoolyard Habitat project team that includes a project coordinator, the school principal, a classroom teacher, and a designated maintenance personnel.
Step 3: Schedule a Site Visit. Complete the Schoolyard Habitat Interest & Site Assessment Request Form to schedule an initial site visit.
Step 4: Host a Site Visit & Assessment. The initial site visit will take between 45 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the size of your space and desired habitat and learning goals. To prepare, please review the Site Assessment Questionnaire, which will be completed with the support of the Schoolyard Habitat Manager during their visit.
Step 5: Have your school principal sign the Schoolyard Habitat Project Agreement. This agreement ensures School Garden Network has permission to implement a habitat project at your school, and outlines project implementation and maintenance roles, garden access, and program liability.
Invitation to Write a Project Plan
Once your initial site visit is completed, your school will be invited to submit a Schoolyard Habitat Project Plan. This plan will include information from your site assessment, a garden map and design, plant list, proposed project budget and timeline, and how you intend to engage students with the habitat space and involve them in its installation and maintenance.
As part of the design process, the Schoolyard Habitat Program Manager will support your team in creating a planting plan and habitat design map, drip irrigation design, itemized budget, and project timeline.
More detailed information and guidance on this process can be found in the Schoolyard Habitat Design Handbook.
This form outlines all required aspects of your Schoolyard Habitat Project Plan. Information will be saved automatically from the same computer, and can be completed over time.
Creating your Schoolyard Habitat
After your Project Plan has been finalized and approved, your school will receive funding for plants, mulch, drip irrigation, tools, and materials.
As you create your Schoolyard Habitat, your team will have access to Project Guides, as well as resources on commonly used Native Plants, Habitat Design Tips, Water-wise Gardening, and Seasonal Habitat Maintenance. School Garden Network can also support your school with drip irrigation installation by request, and will provide ongoing support from knowledgeable experts in native plant and habitat maintenance.
Schools participating in the Schoolyard Habitat Program agree to provide photos of the project’s progression, a brief description and evaluation of their Schoolyard Habitat project within 12 months of installation, and to be featured on the School Garden Network Map of Participating Schools.
Stewardship & Education
After the installation of your Schoolyard Habitat, SGN will continue to support the enlivenment of this participatory space through habitat-based curriculum, stewardship project ideas, and regular inspirational newsletters.
Learning Ecosystems & Native Plants Curriculum
Tips for Outdoor Learning
Read past SGN Newsletters
Your team will also have the opportunity to attend SGN teacher trainings on practical and conceptual ecological knowledge, and pedagogic approaches to school garden ecoliteracy. There will also be networking opportunities to share ideas, challenges, and inspiration with other teachers and schools in Sonoma County.
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