Together, public gardens and community schools can build life-changing programs

My name is Jonah Goldstein.

This site contains my thesis for my master’s in Public Garden Leadership from the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University.

The site is divided into three parts:

  • Theoretical and Contextual Framework

    In this section, labeled “Theory,” I review literature on critical placemaking, the community school model, and education and outreach at public gardens.

  • Field Research

    In this section, labeled “Praxis,” I share a series of informational interviews I conducted with individuals working in leadership roles at community schools, public gardens, and cultural organizations. These interviews focused on the process of program development, execution, and evaluation; partnership; and community outreach.

  • Analysis

    In this section, labeled “Implications,” I look at common threads between the interviews, and tie them back to my theoretical framework in order to form a cohesive model for partnership between public gardens and community schools.

Abstract

Across the country, countless public gardens have partnered with schools as a means to increase their educational impact. These partnerships are incredibly fruitful when it comes to expanding the reach of educational programming, but they come at a cost. They tend to be resource-intensive, requiring transportation and materials, plus extra demands from staff in the form of communication, coordination, and facilitation. As a result, some public gardens simply do not have the capacity for a traditional school partnership, or may feel that the costs outweigh the benefits. Fortunately, there is an alternative that may be very attractive for some gardens: partnering with a community school.

For public gardens that need to be highly strategic about their partnerships lest they stretch themselves too thin, or who have struggled to build sustainable programming with traditional schools, it may be wise to partner with a community school. Community schools are public schools that utilize extensive local partnerships to expand opportunities, resources, and supports for their students. These institutions are deliberately organized to create and sustain these partnerships, and have infrastructure, staff, and resources dedicated to supporting outreach, relationship building, and experiential learning opportunities. This removes many of the barriers public gardens face when working with traditional schools, such as inconsistent communication and follow-through, logistical challenges, and varying degrees of teacher interest. Community schools also have strong relationships with a broad network of organizations and individuals in their community—by working with a community school, public gardens stand to inherit some of these relationships through a sense of vicarious trust.

Purpose

To collect information on factors contributing to and hindering the success of educational programs run by public gardens and adjacent institutions, in partnership with schools, through a series of informational interviews with leaders in their education departments. Using this data, and information from my literature review, I sought to investigate how working with schools that use the community school model might lead to improved outcomes regarding program sustainability and impact.

Audience

Individuals working in education and/or outreach at a public garden or adjacent institution.

Goals

To help public gardens or adjacent institutions develop a successful strategy for school partnership, expanding the reach and deepening the impact of their student programs.

Photo by Sydney Colón

Methodology

I interviewed leaders at public gardens, scientific and cultural institutions, and community schools—including Denver Botanic Gardens, Naples Botanical Garden, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, Colorado Ballet, Interpret Green, Enrico Fermi School No. 17, and William Cramp Community School—who are engaged in collaborative school programming. My goal was learn about objectives and outcomes, successful strategies, and obstacles they have encountered along the way.

I loosely structured my interviews using the following series of questions:

Describe—in your own words—the nature of the partnership.

How did you first connect with each other? Who had the idea for a partnership/what inspired it?

What were the goals and objectives for each partner coming into the partnership? Have these goals/objectives been achieved? If not, why not?

What factors made this partnership successful (and how do you define success)? Is there something you do that you feel works exceptionally well?

Have there been any obstacles or challenges your organizations have faced in forming this partnership?  If yes, what were they and how have you addressed them?

Are there any specific programs you've tried to model or ideas you've found particularly fruitful?

What is something unique about your partnership? 

How do you ensure this partnership/program is sustainable long-term?

Do you have advice for other organizations looking to form similar partnerships?

Photo by Sydney Colón