LMST School Garden and Outdoor Learning Space

About

Located on Watt Street, at the front entrance of École LeMarchant-St Thomas School, the new garden and outdoor learning space officially opened in 2020. A collaboration of parents, teachers and neighbours, the garden and green space makes outdoor learning a focus of our urban school. This engaging space for experiential learning provides many benefits for the school community:

• Planter boxes that link with school curriculum and enhance children’s understanding of biodiversity and food systems.
• A gathering space with naturalised features that make it easy for educators to take learning activities outdoors.
• Equitable access to nature with features such as accessible surfaces and pathways, sensory friendly spaces, and a calming garden.
• Some of the positive impacts of this project are:
• Educational: Research shows that students that enjoy regular access to nature as part of their school day benefit from improved concentration, better critical thinking, and higher test scores.
• Community: A school garden is a space where children benefit from productive and enjoyable time with their peers, teachers, and families. In a dense, urban setting, this open space is an opportunity to foster social interaction and engagement beyond the school community.
• Environmental: This project replaces a space that would otherwise be hardscape with beautiful natural features, including native species and plantings attractive to pollinators.

The LMST Garden Committee is very active in the school and the community.  The 2022/2023 school year saw many new initiatives in the school including the inaugural Garden Week where every child in the school planted a Sunflower Seed. We did salad making, with lettuce grown in the school.  We had a very successful fundraiser that will allow us to buy a Lomi composter for the school. The school planting day in June was a huge success - with all the seeds being so kindly donated by a local company, Halifax Seed. 

School and Community Events
-        Garden committee meetings

-         Fall Bulb Sale Fundraiser
-        Fall garden clean up day

-         Spring Seed Sale Fundraiser
-        School Wide Garden Week (April)

-        School butterfly release in the pollinator garden
-        School Wide Garden planting day (June)

Garden Weeding and Maintenance (Year Round)

The perennial garden beds have been divided into ten areas that families have volunteered to keep maintained.  Every September all LMST families can sign up to take care of a specific area.  Thank you in advance for helping us keep the gardens growing and looking so beautiful.

Summer Schedule
If you would like to help with the garden over the summer months please reach out to lizzie@mooreco.ca .  A Huge thank you to all the families that help keep the garden watered and weeded throughout the summer.  image2.jpeg

THANK YOU

LMST Garden Committee would like to express a special thank you to the following organizations and people for their support in creating the LMST garden and learning space.

Nova Scotia Government

City of Halifax

TD Friends of the Environment Foundation is a proud supporter of this program

Chiasson Family

Nova Pharmacy

Cobequid Consulting

Leahey landscaping and construction

Marco Maritimes Limited

Earthworks Construction Ltd

Vollick McKee Petersmann Landscaping Architects

Our supportive school and neighbouring community

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