Durham Catholic District School Board Creating New Outdoor Learning Spaces

Durham Catholic District School Board (DCDSB) is pleased to announce a new project that will bring outdoor experiential learning spaces to five schools across the board. As part of this project, St. Mary Catholic Secondary School (Pickering), St. Jude Catholic School (Ajax), St. Paul Catholic School (Whitby), St. Joseph Catholic School (Oshawa) and Good Shepherd Catholic School (Port Perry) are collaborating with Foggy River Farm to design outdoor class spaces at each school.

DCDSB received funding through the Federal COVID-19 Resiliency Infrastructure Stream (CVRIS) which is to be used for improving air quality, increasing physical distancing, and promoting occupant health and safety. In addition, DCDSB receives provincial funding through the School Renewal Allocation (SRA). SRA provides flexibility, in which the Ministry of Education encourages school boards to prioritize SRA expenditures to address facility condition, health and safety, and general code requirements (including accessibility). “The combined funding has provided us with the flexibility to move forward with the outdoor learning spaces,” said Scott Grieve, Superintendent of Business, Finance and Facilities Services. “These outdoor learning spaces will provide student communities with the opportunity to access a variety of activities with connections to Experiential Learning, Health and Physical Education, Outdoor Education, Religion and Family Life, Science and more.” 

The project began in January 2021 where each of the five schools designated a lead educator and lead classroom to help steer the project at each school. Students have had regular meetings over the span of the project. “Students have been asked to share their ideas on where the outdoor structure should be placed at the school, outdoor learning opportunities that could take place, prayer garden construction and for their design of food forests and vegetable gardens,” said Michael Hamill, Academic Services Consultant for Experiential Learning, Outdoor Education and New Teacher Induction Program (NTIP). “The addition of these co-constructed outdoor learning environments will mean that all learners will have the opportunity to experience learning outside all school year. Onsite Outdoor Education promotes accessibility, ownership, and a legacy for the school community.”

Foggy River Farm has worked with DCDSB staff and students to design the outdoor learning structures which will be made from cargo shipping containers that will be connected to wooden gazebos. "The approved design was chosen for its versatility and safety as an outdoor classroom,” said Phillip Collins, Landscape Architect with Foggy River Farm. “Students were engaged from the start of the design process by conducting their own site analysis by studying wind, sun and shade patterns, seasonal snow and rain amounts, noise and many other observations about their schoolyard. These studies allowed the students and lead educators to make informed decisions about where the best place for these classrooms might be."

The building of the outdoor learning spaces has been completed at St. Mary Catholic Secondary School (Pickering) and St. Jude Catholic School (Ajax). Students will continue to work on the design for vegetable gardens and food forests around the structures. There will be learning opportunities for the full school community to participate. Students have been an integral part of the planning process, as it is through student voice and agency that has brought the projects to life. “It’s been so cool to be a part of the Outdoor Education club and to work on this new outdoor classroom project. Mr. Hamill, Mr. Collins and Mrs. Crockford took care of the details but everything else was really an accumulation of all our ideas. From the positioning of the classroom, to the different ways that educators might want to use it, they really gave us full control,” said Megan Satumba, student at St. Mary Catholic Secondary School. “I got to learn about the importance of construction and the environment, how to collaborate in a creative project, and we even got to speak at elementary schools about the green industry initiatives here at St. Mary Catholic Secondary School. This was such an amazing opportunity to accelerate the green initiatives in our school curriculum and I can’t wait for it to keep growing.” 

The planning and building of the outdoor learning structures at the remaining school sites will take place over the next year.

DCDSB would like to thank the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario and the Ontario Ministry of Education for providing funding for these outdoor learning structures. In addition, DCDSB would like to acknowledge Foggy River Farm for their designs and sharing their knowledge and expertise with staff and students.