This week the Green Team began the initial stages of construction for Villa Academy’s first official outdoor classroom. If you haven’t heard yet, the funding for this classroom was generously granted by the Villa Parent Association. Designs were finalized, lumber was ordered, and now our Green Team members have managed to dig all of the post holes for each of the 9 FSC certified cedar benches and white-board that will make up the classroom.

Completion of our new outdoor classroom is projected within a month (pending the schedule of further work parties). Until then, please be cautious  of the construction zone just below the main Villa entrance (west side).

The Green Team made international environmental news! This article was just published on the National Wildlife Federation’s web site. The Green Team is now an official Eco-Action team, part of NWF’s Eco-schools USA program, and Villa will soon be a certified Eco-school.

The Green Team has even more to celebrate . . . .
Next week, the Green Team will begin the layout and construction of Villa’s first ever outdoor classroom. It will be located just outside the main (west) entrance to the school on the slope surrounded by old growth fir and cedar trees. Much of the materials for this classroom will be purchased with the help of a parent association grant award.

Thanks to the hard work of the Green Team students, the 5th-8th grade student lunchroom waste monitors, the Villa facilities department and cooking staff, and Lisa (a volunteer parent of a 6th grade student), Villa Academy will also be a certified Washington Green School. Soon, we will have a bright green flag to show off in our lunchroom.

Watch VIDEO

Students in the University of Washington Landscape Architecture program have selected the spacious grounds at Villa Academy for a case study project. This partnership provides UW students with the opportunity for practical application of  their studies and gives the Villa Academy Building and Grounds Committee well developed suggestions for campus improvements.

The discipline of landscape architecture is focused on the creation of urban open-space and development that meets the aspirations and needs of human, wildlife, and other biological processes on earth.

As part of the initial research, UW students met with Villa’s middle school Green Team. The Green Team offered guided tours of campus as well as their thoughts and ideas surrounding future campus development. Watch Video.

Last week, the Landscape Architecture class presented spatial and programmatic ideas to the Villa Building and Grounds Committee.  There are four student teams, each with a different vision for the future development of Villa’s campus.

All of the groups addressed traffic and pedestrian challenges and looked for ways to improve  the busy flow at drop-off and pick-up times.  Many of the teams had exciting suggestions for ways to integrate outdoor learning. Designs for outdoor classrooms, amphitheaters, sensory gardens, agricultural areas, and space for students to practice environmental stewardship were illustrated on large presentation posters on every wall of the classroom.

An architectural model of the Villa Academy campus was the center piece of the room, reminding us all of the amazing resource we are fortunate to be working with.