Creating Landscapes Learning Center, Inc.

Claim to Fame:

A one-of-a-kind, sustainably sourced outdoor classroom is enhancing the school's nature-based learning initiatives.

Creating Landscapes began in 1990 as a summer arts program. In 2009, it blossomed into a year-round after-school program. Two years later, the Creating Landscapes Learning Center emerged as an independent K-8 school fostering natural curiosity in the arts, the environment and sustainability.

The current school site features vegetable gardens, wildflower meadows, streams and a forest, providing an ideal setting for its nature-focused curriculum. This certified Forest School teaches classes outdoors when possible, allowing students to engage with nature on their own terms.

Thanks to a $108,600 Sun Club grant and materials sourced from the neighboring woods, a new outdoor classroom will enhance the school’s nature-based teaching methods. The outdoor classroom serves as a venue for educational workshops and community events. Students enrolled during the 2021-2023 school years will have had the opportunity to carve a wooden peg that will be used in the timber-framing construction process, giving them a special connection to their new classroom.