Outdoor Classroom

The kindergarten and first grades at Sacred Heart Greenwich have created a dedicated instructional space for learning in the open air.  The overarching theme centers on learning experiences that take place in the outdoors, are about the outdoors, and are inspired by the outdoors.  Located just outside of the Lower School entrance, it is easily accessible and visible to both classes throughout the day.  Students benefit in mind and body from interacting with nature.  Students spend quality time in this outdoor classroom as well as the other green spaces on campus, gaining appreciation for the natural world,  experiencing multisensory stimuli, and reducing stress.  Teachers extend curriculum-based instruction and joyful pursuits to the outdoors in our living, changing, and stimulating natural environment.  Time outdoors offers a full-body break from the routine and often provides renewed focus upon return to the classroom.

Monarchs

In Second Grade we studied the Monarch butterfly. The girls monitored the life cycle from the caterpillar stage through metamorphosis into a butterfly. The beauty of this unit is that the girls are able to witness the metamorphosis first-hand in the classroom. The butterflies were then released in collaboration with a program called Monarch Watch through Kansas University. The process gives our students the opportunity to participate in actual scientific research as the Monarchs are tracked along their migration route. All the girls cheered as our butterflies flew off to begin their journey to Mexico. While our live Monarchs traveled to Mexico, the students created butterflies to make a symbolic migration. Paper butterflies were sent to a classroom in Mexico near the area where the Monarchs spend the winter.  As the Monarchs leave Mexico in the Spring, symbolic butterflies made by children from all over the country will make their way back to us.

Mustard Seeds

Through our Mustard Seeds program, the children enjoy many opportunities to walk around our beautiful campus, observing, exploring, and discovering the world around them. They may want to learn more about the leaves in fall, or perhaps how trees change through the seasons. Their interests inspire and guide our learning journeys. We actively, excitedly, and gratefully embrace the vast natural world right outside our door. The children bring their treasures back to the classroom, and that leads to counting, comparing, observing, and experimenting. It serves as a springboard for projects: it serves as a springboard to knowledge.

 

Via Mater Orbis

You are invited to take a walk along Via Mater Orbis (The road of Mary, the Mother of the World).  On this pathway you will view images created by MS students on paving stones that celebrate the bountiful gifts of our earth and our call to respect its frailty.  Come and rest or pray beside the stones and deepen your commitment to the care of all of creation.
 

App Design

The 8th graders designed apps to address a need or a problem they believe needs to be addressed or solved. These apps address recycling, pollution, and community service.

​Click the links below to view the apps!
Just Recycle It
The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle
Pollution
Safe Service

5th and 6th Grade Botany

During the spring months of the 5th grade, the girls study botany in science class. The unit starts with germination, which is the process of a seed developing into a young plant. Seeds are planted in the classroom, and the girls care for them and watch them grow into seedlings. The anatomy of a flower, the process of photosynthesis, and pollination are also explored. As the weather warms, the garden becomes central to the unit.  The beds are prepared, and crops, as well as the seedlings from the classroom, are planted. The girls care for the garden until the school year is completed. When the girls return to school in September as sixth graders, they see the result of their hard work and effort which is a beautiful garden. The girls harvest what they planted and donate the proceeds to an organization called Meals on Main Street in Portchester, New York.

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Ceramic Garden Plaques

In celebration of Earth Day and to inform the community about the plants in the Sacred Heart meadows, vegetable and herb gardens, Foundations of Art students created ceramic tiles that will be hung on stakes to label where seeds are planted in our gardens. Students carved and sculpted clay to create relief plaques illustrating tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, zucchini and more. Keep an eye out for our ceramic plant labels when the gardens are planted in May.