Hyde Park School Garden Project

🌿 Welcome to the Hyde Park School Garden Project

A living classroom. A neighborhood treasure. A greener future, together.

🌱 A Garden That Grows More Than Plants

At Hyde Park School, we’re transforming an underutilized corner of our campus into a vibrant, accessible outdoor learning space that inspires curiosity, creativity, and community.

Designed in collaboration with students, families, and the community—and brought to life by expert landscape architects—the new garden is infused with educational purpose and will serve as a living classroom for all K–6 students, connecting hands-on lessons in science, health, art, and environmental stewardship to the natural world just outside our doors.

This thoughtfully designed space is ADA-compliant throughout and incorporates universal design principles and sensory-friendly features—from accessible pathways and workstations to a dedicated sensory garden—ensuring that every student, regardless of ability or sensory needs, can fully engage with the space.

This garden is more than a beautification project. It’s an investment in the well-being and development of every child, and a space that welcomes families, neighbors, and community partners to engage in learning and growth together.

🌼 What’s Growing in the Garden

Outdoor Classroom Pavilion – A shaded, accessible structure for teaching and gathering
Raised Garden Beds & Workstations – Designed for small group lessons in planting, observing, and harvesting
Rainwater Harvesting System & Compost Area – Sustainability in action
Sensory Garden & Pollinator Path – Built for exploration and inclusion
Native Plant Gallery – Supporting local ecosystems and student-led ecological inquiry
Arbor & Art Spaces – Blending beauty, creativity, and school pride

Whether students are measuring plant growth, journaling under the arbor, exploring pollination, or digging into soil science, every element of the garden has been designed to support learning, wellness, and discovery.

📅 Phased Implementation Plan

Phase 1: Planting the Heart of the Garden

(Starting Spring 2025)

Installation of the Sensory Garden, Pollinator Path, and Native Plant Gallery
Early opportunities for student exploration and environmental learning
Establishes habitat for pollinators and fosters immediate visual impact

Phase 2: Preparing the Canvas

Core site preparation, including grading, ADA-compliant pathways, and irrigation
Installation of essential hardscaping features to ensure accessibility and durability
Lays the groundwork for long-term maintenance and classroom integration

Phase 3: Building the Learning Environment

Installation of Raised Garden Beds and Workstations for student use
Construction of the Outdoor Classroom Pavilion for structured lessons and gatherings
Launch of garden-based curriculum and community engagement programming

💛 How You Can Help

Make a Donation
Every dollar helps us build and sustain a vibrant garden classroom.
Donate Now
Sponsor a Garden Element
Interested in leaving a legacy at HPS? Raised beds, benches, trees, operating programs, and other features are great ways to contribute to this amazing space!
Sponsor Now
📞 Call Michael Murrison at (513) 254-5179 or email garden@hydeparkschoolpto.org for tiered sponsorship details.
Join Our Newsletter
Stay connected with garden updates, volunteer opportunities, student highlights, and upcoming events.
Sign Up for Updates
Share the Vision
Help us get the word out by posting the video on social media or sending it to friends and neighbors. The more people who know, the more hands we’ll have in the soil.

🐞 Join Us in Growing the Future

The Hyde Park School Garden is a space where seeds of knowledge, empathy, and environmental responsibility are planted every day. With your support, we can cultivate a garden that nourishes minds, bodies, and community spirit for years to come.

Let’s grow something beautiful—together.

Donate Now | Watch the Garden Video | Contact Us About Sponsorship | Join Our Newsletter | Follow Us

🗩 Thoughts from the 6th Grade Class of 2025

The 6th Grade Class of 2025 was instrumental in helping to plan the garden and will be the first ones to plant something in the new garden space.

It means a place to relax, do school work, hangout and enjoy nature. - Janie It will provide a spot to relax. - Clara The thing that the garden means most to me is to have a chance to learn interactively. - Barrett This garden would be a safe, calm space where I could go to anytime after or before school, or on the weekends, to relax and plant plants, herbs, or flowers. It would also be a good place to recollect after a hard day. It would also bring me closer to the Hyde Park community. - Livia To me the garden means that we achieved our goal and we had fun doing it. - Paige The garden means to me a place to relax, learn about plants and the environment, and a way to remember our social studies class as well as to remember this years 6th grade class. - Bea It is a place to chill after school and is a Community Learning Center for the community. - James This garden will let people from all over the Hyde Park & Oakley community come together and it may help me reconnect with my old friends when I leave the school. - Norah The garden means to me more exposure, kids can learn outside and not be trapped inside learning. People can find a love for nature and plants, while learning or even just after school hour spending time with plants and friends or even calming down in the sensory garden. - Elise The garden to me is a memorial so our legacy will be remembered, similar to the bench of 2024’s 6th graders. - John The garden means to me a place to relax and connect more outdoors. The garden is going to be a great place to explore plants, gardening, and learn in a place with real life examples. The garden will also be a great place to cool off and calm down. - Lydia The garden seems like a fun outdoor activity for multiple people to engage in while also learning. It sounds like it could also be a place to calm down or relax if you feel stressed or anxious. I bet it would look so amazing in autumn. - Oscar The garden is mentally and physically a very peaceful place. It means a lot that I got to be apart of creating such a wonderful thing for Hyde Park school. - Lucy To me the garden represents all of our hard work over these past two years to make it happen. It represents a safe and happy, healthy place and hopefully healthier eating habits for our community. It shows that as long as you work hard you can make something happen. - Hannah This garden will be meaningful to me because it will represent all of our hard work paying off. It took a lot of time and it would be amazing to just see it happen. - Cece The garden was a way for me and my classmates to have fun, help the community, and improve our school. We had an amazing time and care about the garden very much. 🙂 - Jane The new HPS garden, to me, is a place for people to relax and enjoy as the weather in our planet changes and we continue to stimulate life. It should be a place that people can go to and enjoy if they need a moment of peace and relaxation. Plus, it will be a great learning place for future Hyde Park students to continue to love. - Emme This garden means to me a left over place form us that most people can relax and chill in. Its a place that will be meaningful to us the sixth graders and students to come. - Abigail