Sundance Children's Community Garden

Basic Information

Grade Level: Pre-K, K-5
Address: 216 Natoma Street Folsom, CA 95630
Person of Contact: Brenda Rios
Phone Number: 916-985-6034

Action Shots

Sundance Children's Community Garden
Sundance Children's Community Garden
Sundance Children's Community Garden

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Additional Information

Student Size: 75
Student/Teacher Ratio: 1:8
Number of Teachers: 14
Hours/Week: 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Monday - Friday
Funding: Donations, Sales, Local, Grants
Gardens (Sq. Feet): 1600
Program Highlights:

The Children's Community Garden at Sundance is open to the community, so that everyone can experience the joys of gardening.

Mission Statement:

The mission of the Green Thumb Committe is to develop the children's community garden as a hands-on, multi-center green space with opportunities to learn about gardening practices, healthy nutrition, and the natural environment, while providing a safe place for children to explore and play. It also offers parents a place to connect socially to develop lasting bonds in the community.

Philosophy/Belief Statement:

Children need a place to spend time outside in unstructured exploration to connect with the natural environment. Studies have shown that children are happier and healthier when they have ample free time to play outdoors. Our garden has already shown tremendous benefits for our students as they work together to tend the garden, prepare meals, search for bugs and other living organisms, and have quiet time to reflect or connect with their friends.

Program History:

The children's garden first began to take shape in 2001, with an empty plot behind the playground. Parents came together to rototille the earth, build planter boxes and volunteer to plant seedlings with the students. Over the years the garden has transformed, with more parents (and grandparents! ) coming out to get involved in caring for the plants and vegetables, harvesting the food to make meals with the children, sharing their harvest with the community, and hosting fun events to bring families together in the surrounding community. The garden has become a big highlight of the school campus and everyone enjoys visiting the children's garden and contributing to it's growth.

Volunteer Participation: Parents take turns bringing students out to water the plants, plant new vegetables, and harvest. Volunteers help with activities and events we host in the garden (such as our very successful Ice Cream Socials). The Green Thumb Committee meets monthly with parent volunteers to share ideas and plan events. When school is not in session many families visit the garden because it provides a safe place for the children to explore, and they like to add their own personal touches: a new tree, a new flowering bush, a statue, some new gardening tools, etc.
Program Information:

This fall we will begin a new agricultural program with the elementary students, focusing on creating student-generated green businesses and learning more about self-sustaining gardening practices. 

The students will come up with ideas that they can generate fundraising from the garden such as: selling and packaging herbs from their garden, making and selling salsa, creating a farmer's market, etc.

They will also harvest more of the food from the garden to make the snacks and lunches for the other students as a regular part of their daily gardening practices.

Students will meet with teachers regularly to contribute their ideas and assign duties and responsibilities.  In the past it was adult volunteers who primarily maintained the garden.  Now we would like to turn ownership over to the students, teaching them the skills needed to properly care for and sustain a community garden.