New Outdoor Classroom Opens at Swansfield ES

May 7th, 2025

May 3 was a big day for students in Swansfield Elementary School’s (SES) Environmental Interest seminar, as well as the entire student community. Working with representatives from the Community Ecology Institute (CEI) Nourishing Gardens program, the seminar students—who call themselves the “Green Beanz”—helped install a new outdoor classroom at the school alongside other SES students, parent volunteers, and representatives from CEI.

The outdoor classroom is the culmination of work that began in Fall 2024, when SES G/T teachers Laine Malcotti and Tara DiVenti applied for and won a $10,000 grant from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to partner with CEI to “engage students in learning about the issues surrounding habitat loss and stormwater runoff in the Chesapeake Bay region and empower them to take actions that enrich natural resources and benefit the environment.”

To fulfill the terms of the grant, students in Malcotti and DiVenti’s seminar were tasked with investigating how they could positively impact the environment. To begin, they compiled observational data on runoff/erosion, transportation, vegetation, and biodiversity on the SES campus. Working with Malcotti, DiVenti, and CEI Nourishing Gardens experts, the students then participated in group discussions, journaling exercises, and presentations to analyze their data.

That data revealed that SES is “a very environmentally friendly school,” Malcotti says, with a couple of exceptions: transportation (students found that almost all SES teachers drive their own vehicles to school) and the absence of native plants (students found that much of the grass on the SES campus is grass native to England and is not conducive to attracting local pollinators).

Together with CEI liaison Loni Cohen, who shared examples of ways to respond to these findings, the students settled on the idea of building an outdoor classroom.

“We envisioned a place where students can learn, the community can gather, people can have lunch, almost like a small park,” notes Malcotti. “We also felt the classroom would be useful in providing some shade for our garden, plants for pollinators, and be helpful to the environment.”

In the months that followed, students worked to identify the layout and location of the new classroom, as well as the native species they wanted to plant. Earlier this month, all the pieces of the outdoor classroom project came together. The new outdoor classroom features magnolia trees, blueberry bushes, native plants, and an archway. More plants, shrubs, and a gazebo are expected to be added in the future.

“It was a truly student-driven project,” says Malcotti. “From the research, looking at the data, making a plan, helping with the design, to the installation, the students were involved every step of the way,”

“The outdoor classroom enhances the SES campus by providing a dynamic learning environment that fosters creativity, hands-on experiences, and a deeper connection to nature. It also promotes student well-being by encouraging movement, fresh air, and a break from the traditional indoor settings,” adds SES Principal Anthony Esposito.