At Saint Leo the Great we truly believe in our mission statement to educate and nurture the whole child. One of the principles we live by is that children are learning everywhere, all the time. That’s why, in addition to the variety of activities and educational opportunities, we’ve also created an outdoor classroom.
Currently a work in progress, our outdoor classroom includes a beautiful mulched area and adjacent hardscaping with six tables sitting below a pretty pergola and a high quality dollhouse structure. We also have plans to build a weather station, vegetable garden and butterfly garden in the near future.
Lancaster has more farms than any other county in the Commonwealth. We would like to honor this statistic and our history. Being sustainable by creating an eco-friendly environment is also an important theme for us… living in way to become fulfilled as human beings while not detracting from the fulfillment of others is the Christian Way!
Design of our Outdoor Classroom
Check out our Fundraisers to learn how you can help with this modest capital expense.
Spiritual Benefits:
Our outdoor classroom provides a familiarity with and appreciation of God as Creator and His creation, while providing a wide, expansive view of how the world works. Being outdoors also helps our students develop stewardship skills and an appreciation for the environment.
Cognitive Benefits:
Our outdoor classroom fosters learning through self initiation, control and personal responsibility. We also find that students often develop an interest in science and math through a connection with nature. Being outdoors also promotes stronger language, problem-solving and communication skills through projects and group activity.
Physical Benefits:
Enjoying time outdoors is a great way to foster physical development and set up patterns for an active, healthy lifestyle. This early development could mean less children suffering from obesity, diabetes and ADD/ADHD.
Emotional Benefits:
Children who spend time outdoors are happier and display more positive self-esteem and motivation due to inspirational, hands-on lessons.
Social Benefits:
Our outdoor classroom gives students the opportunity to build effective relationships in a cooperative, non-competitive environment, that leads to classroom harmony. Through collaborative, project-based learning initiatives, students recognize and celebrate differing learning styles and connect to the neighborhood and the world-at-large.
