Watauga Elementary has been selected by the Rainwater Environment Alliance for Learning Schools Initiative to implement and build an Outdoor Learning Environment for the benefit of our students and community. This is a special honor for our school and community.  We encourage all parents to get involved and work side-by-side with their children in this great outdoor classroom adventure.

An Outdoor Learning Environment combines hands-on instruction with real life experiences. Watauga Elementary children can experience and learn: 

The benefits of soil conservation

To grow their own plants and vegetables 

How to compost material

Water conservation

What are “good” and “bad” insects in the garden

How to naturally control the “bad” insects

The life cycles of different insects

The life cycles of different plants

The many different types of rocks

The different types of birds that are needed in the garden

The flying insects (butterflies and bees) that help to pollinate the garden

The eco-system of a Pond including what type of plants, animals and insects depend on and live in and around ponds (Amoeba, pond skaters, frogs, toads, dragonflies, snails and many more creatures)

Watauga Elementary also needs and encourages the support of the business community and individual community volunteers in this endeavor. Please help us build and maintain this extremely important outdoor classroom through donates of time and/or material.  

The Real Schools Initiative supports a school and its community in the process of developing a successful and sustainable Garden which will be used as a focus to:

Become a source of inspiration, empowerment and renewal for

exceptional teachers who utilize outdoor classrooms, nature and     urban environments as tools for learning

Integrate school curriculum with hands-on and real life experiences for children in an outdoor environment

Help schools in developing, promoting, encouraging, welcoming and

celebrating parental and community involvement

Provide assistance to schools that are becoming the center of the

neighborhood and involve the community around them as an integral part of their efforts to support the education of children and their families