The Stoddert Garden was funded, designed and constructed by DC Greens in partnership with the Stoddert PTA and with generous support from Whole Foods and a Building Healthy Communities grant from Home Depot

The 4,000 square foot garden includes eight raised beds for edibles, an herb garden, a native plant area, a butterfly-shaped pollinator garden, a shaded teaching area, a tool shed, a sink station, a compost area and a berry bramble. The garden also features a 36 square foot greenhouse made by students from recycled plastic bottles.

Artist Patrick Dougherty designed the entrance sculpture, which was constructed by his colleague, Andy Lynch. Members of the community and sculpture students from the Corcoran assisted Andy each day with the construction. This entryway, known as “the stick house” by Stoddert students, is a whimsical invitation for the school children to enter and explore the garden.

A Model Garden
The Stoddert Garden is designed to be a model garden for the following reasons:

• The garden was designed based on best practices from school garden programs throughout the city and country and continues to evolve based on teacher and school community feedback.
• The garden was formed through a collaboration between DC Greens, the school community and the local business community. DC Greens continues to provide support and management.
• DC Greens manages a dedicated school garden coordinatorat Stoddert, allowing the garden to thrive through:
  • Integrating garden education and outdoor lessons into the science curriculum for pre-K through 5th grade classes
  • Setting up a volunteer-based watering and gardening schedule to allow for summer garden maintenance
  • Launching an after-school garden club to provide garden enrichment lessons and structured learning time.