Environmental Science and Service Learning Project

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Statement of Purpose

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Partnership Academy High School is a public high school that has the capacity to serve up to 60 students in grades 9–12, who have not been successful in the traditional high school setting. We have been designated as a Title I school, due to our high percentage of students receiving free/reduced lunch services. The vast majority of our students have faced numerous impediments during their educational careers and would benefit from classroom experiences that focus on hands-on, real-life experiences.

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The overarching goal of this project is to provide students with a hands-on learning environment that will increase levels of school engagement, afford the opportunity to put their theoretical learning into practice, and see the rewards of their labors. This project will afford students the opportunity to learn basic carpentry skills (math), agricultural skills (biology), composting (environmental science), and habitat restoration (animal science). This project will provide our non-traditional students with the opportunity to participate with their curriculums in real-world scenarios, outside of the traditional classroom model. By engaging students in these programs, we are hoping to improve their levels of engagement in the biology, environmental science, and career and technical education curriculums and create a sense of ownership and belonging to our school.

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This project represents a departure from the standard way we have delivered our curriculum and the way most students have experienced math and science. We believe that a hands-on approach will make the classroom more relevant and increase the students’ levels of understanding and engagement with the curriculum.

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The academic goal of Partnership Academy’s Environmental Science and Service Learning Project is to build environmental stewardship in our students, while providing them with a sense of ownership of our school and grounds. The project will include installing additional sustainable garden beds to provide students with a hands-on learning environment that focuses on growing and raising fruits and vegetables from seeds, composting school paper and food waste, building outdoor seating, and developing a native pollinator garden.

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Students will learn how to build and care for raised garden beds, grow plants from seeds, attract beneficial/pollinating insects, reintroduce native plant species, and harvest the results of their labors. Students will also be working with our Maintenance Department and Child Nutrition Department to begin a composting project to augment the depleted soil on our campus in an effort to decrease our environmental impact, while improving the soil quality and reducing erosion and runoff at the same time.

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If our grant request is awarded, we will immediately begin germinating our spring plants and then begin assembling our garden beds and outdoor seating, installing a composting system, and clearing the native pollinator garden on March 2, 2026 during our initial day of service. During the ensuing weeks, our biology, environmental science, and career and technical education classes, along with Service Learning Club, will continue to be engaged with the completion of this project.​​​​​​​