Grades TK-4

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Amy MacWilliamson, Garden Teacher

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Rooftop School's outdoor science program was started as a vision of Principal Nancy Mayeda in 1984. With donated lumber, donated soil, and dedicated parent involvement, the garden started to evolve slowly but steadily. By 1995, the school had enough garden beds for every teacher and 10 heirloom apple trees had been planted. By 1996 we had a garden educator to teach the students mandated science curriculum through hands-on activities in our garden.

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The Rooftop Garden Program serves every student (~330 each year!), on the TK-4 Twin Peaks campus. Each classroom has a one-hour garden session per week. Students are also free to come to the garden at recess and lunch times for unorganized nature play.

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What is the garden program?  What do you do?

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Rooftop students study living things, plant and animal morphology, life cycles, and strategies for survival and habitats.  Seasons are studied: why we have seasons and what plants and animals are doing in each season.  Rocks are investigated; soil formation, and decomposition of organic material are studied.  Overall, the garden program operates as an outdoor laboratory where SFUSD science concepts are taught using plants, animals, and materials present in the garden.

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What started as Nancy Mayeda’s vision has grown to become an invaluable educational resource that serves all students at Rooftop Elementary and has become a model for other schools.

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Who is the teacher?

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Amy MacWilliamson heads this hands-on science program, taught in our own beautiful garden.  Volunteers are always welcome to assist during garden class time, as well as in helping to maintain this sanctuary. Email Ms. Amy at garden@rooftopk8.org to help outside of class time, and look for dates in the weekly bulletin of garden work parties, which are always a lot of fun and very important to maintaining the garden.