The Surreybrook School awarded grant for Schoolyard Pollinator Project

The Surreybrook School has been awarded a grant for the Schoolyard Pollinator Project through National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) Eco-Schools USA and Schoolyard Habitats® Programs along with the LEGO Community Fund and the Connecticut Forest and Park Association. They are working with 25 schools across Connecticut that are interested in using the environment to support learning and to protect and enhance Monarch butterflies and other pollinator habitat on their school grounds. Surreybrook is the only preschool in CT to be participating in this project.

Over the past two decades, the number of Monarch butterflies in the United States has declined from 1.3 billion to 50 million—a drop of 96%. Much of the loss has been due to the disappearance of native milkweed plants along the butterfly’s migration routes. The Pollinator Project provides schools with the training to develop curriculum and gardens to engage their students in Monarch recovery. Teachers Kelly Dunbar and Skye Stella will be leading our Schoolyard Pollinator Project upon completion of the training. Schools also receive a $500.00 action grant to be used in the development of their gardens.

Surreybrook became one of the first certified Nature Explore Classrooms in Connecticut in 2013. Nature Explore is a national initiative that recognizes schools that have made a commitment to providing nature-based outdoor play and learning spaces and comprehensive programming to help children use the natural world as an integral part of learning.

Director, Cheryl Kane is excited to expand on Surreybrook’s Nature Explore Outdoor Classroom by enhancing our Monarch Habitat through the Schoolyard Pollinator Project.

We are so fortunate to have received this grant,” said Kane, “This is a project that is good for the students, good for the school, and good for the community.”