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Rose Ave PS
PHOTO GALLERY - BUILDING THE NEW GARDEN
Rose Ave. Public School is located in the St. James Town community of high-rise apartment buildings. The school serves a student population of over 850 students from kindergarten through Grade 6. Over 240 are in kindergarten alone. More than 85% of the students have English as their second language, representing about 50 language groups. Most of the families of this school came from other countries in recent years - many from Sri Lanka, and an increasing number from Eastern European, Asian and African countries. The school is one of the TDSB EcoSchools, and as such has been developing an environmentally sustainable set of practices, into which gardening and composting fit quite well.
Garden development began in earnest in Spring 2007, with a design for a children’s garden in the part-sun location at the northwest corner of the property. Edible perennial and annual plants with shade tolerance were planted by children who also built the garden features such as a raised berm and a serpentine keyhole-bed. Both features are important for young children, as they help with motor development. Many children growing up in apartments don’t learn to walk on uneven and natural surfaces, which may affect their cognitive abilities.
Composting was initiated at the school in the 2006/07 school year with the support of Bob Lacroix, Head Caretaker, who has a commitment to school gardening. Bob helped install compost collection pails in every willing classroom, and facilitated the installation of the children’s garden. Bob also made sure that students were involved in the garden development every step of the way. Principal Jim Kormos released funds for the fence around this new garden, and has been a strong supporter of school greening.
Community member Lolita Esteves adopted the school garden in the summer of 2007. She weeded, watered and planted additional annuals, fought off the squirrels, and generally kept the garden going. Coming from a farming family in Philippines over 20 years ago, she has enjoyed the opportunity to tend a garden close to her apartment.
Also located at Rose Ave. school is a balcony with potential for food production as it’s south facing. We’ve installed a min-max thermometer to record temperatures and we’ve placed two planters on the balcony as a test. One planter is from Santropol Roulant, a community food project in Montreal. It waters from below. The other planter is a standard round pot. Both have identical tomato plants. We’re monitoring the process and will report back later!
Content last modified on April 16, 2008, at 04:29 PM EST