Howell School's Outdoor Classroom Encourages Learning, Peace

HOWELL, NJ — While most people think of education taking place in a classroom surrounded by four walls, Memorial Elementary School in Howell is turning that on its ear.

The school unveiled its new outdoor classroom recently at a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The classroom, named the Bulldog Retreat, was funded by a $10,000 grant from OceanFirst Bank. It is "a vision come to life," the district said, where students can move through various "classrooms" completing activities that range from outdoor whiteboards, STEAM building challenges, and a sensory garden where students can touch and smell calming plants, to a stage to conduct readers theatre, a musical station equipped with functional instruments, a functional garden and much more. It's equipped with tables and seating for multiple classes to use.

The classroom also aims to focus students on making a peaceful choice. Its original title, "The Outdoor Classroom for the Peaceful Path," is conveyed in its current form through the giant "peace" rock garden and a path lined with stones created by students and staff at the school to showcase their unique qualities and diverse natures.

Friendship benches, outdoor games such as chess, checkers and bean bag toss stress the message that the space is built for encouraging friendships and partnerships among students of all abilities, Principal Ray Gredder said..

In addition to these benefits, research supports the idea that student engagement and retention of knowledge increases when learning takes place outside, the district said.

The teachers who designed the space are led by computer science teacher Skye Donzelli, who led the grant writing process over a year ago. The team also included media specialist Jennifer Stenard, classroom teachers Sonia Rivera, Laura Grube, Lois Muhaw, special education teachers Angela O’Cone and Mike Savino, instructional coach Erin Lowman and guidance counselor Samantha Murrillo. The grant was awarded in October.

As a model classroom, one of the big focuses is on fostering relationships and partnerships. Students designated as "Peace Leaders" served as guides at the ribbon-cutting and are being trained as experts on the ways to utilize the space. They work with school counselors and school resource officers Jayme Higgins and Maureen McBride to find ways to solve conflicts and weave these lessons into the routines of the classroom.

"This space is a truly unique and special. The hard work that Mrs. Donzelli put in to lead this effort is monumental. She is supported by an amazing team of teachers who dedicated themselves to personally designing this space for our students," Gredder said. "We are blessed to have such dedicated staff, such strong support from our senior administration and Board of Education, from our PTA and we are especially thankful to our partners at OceanFirst Bank for their time, generosity and care for our school."

Memorial Elementary School is a grade 3 through 5 school, serving approximately 300 students. It is the home of special education programs such as Autistic Education, Cognitively Impaired Classrooms and Multiply Disabled Classrooms. Inclusion and collaboration was at the heart of this classroom. Each area is built with all students in mind and is versatile enough that students who may have an aversion to one area can quickly find and relocate themselves to others.

The space is readily available and functional for both general education classrooms which can serve up to 25 students as well as smaller classes and even individual lessons.

"I love the sensory garden because I love the smell and feel of lavender. The smell of lavender calms me," fourth-grader Cady Bergamino said.

This is a small example of the care and detail that was put into every inch of the space. Student Juliet Bonevich added "I like getting to go outside more, not for recess, but to learn. It gets me excited about learning!"

This is the second grant awarded to Memorial School and currently the school shares its STEM Room, The Bulldog Think Tank, with other districts and schools looking to launch a strong STEM Center. The plan is the same with this space, and sharing the work is something that is valued as part of the concept of Model Classroom.

"We are all in this together for the reason of helping children. We love to tell our story and help others if we can, it has been a big focus for our school district and we will continue to keep our doors open here at Memorial," Gredder said.

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