HNP Schools Program
Growing the Next Generation of Conservation Stewards
The Homegrown National Park Schools Program brings hands on biodiversity education into middle schools and gives students a meaningful way to make a difference. Through outdoor learning, native planting, and community-based propagation, students learn how to restore biodiversity where they live, learn, and play.
The program launched in the greater Chattanooga region and is now preparing for expansion to additional locations. Read more about the pilot here.
Learn
Students complete a 6 to 8 week unit using the Symbiotic Schoolyard curriculum, a standards-aligned educational framework that teaches food webs, ecological relationships, native plants, and local biodiversity.
Plant
Each school installs a native plant garden that reflects its local ecology. Students prepare soil, identify species, observe insects, and create real habitat that supports wildlife year after year.
Grow
Students help care for their garden as it establishes. They monitor seasonal changes, learn how species interact, and begin to understand the food web in a hands on way.
Propagate
Students learn to collect and grow seeds from their campus gardens. These student-grown plants will revitalize homes, neighborhoods, and community spaces – expanding habitats far beyond school grounds.
Learn
Students complete a 6 to 8 week unit using the Symbiotic Schoolyard curriculum, a standards-aligned educational framework that teaches food webs, ecological relationships, native plants, and local biodiversity.
Plant
Each school installs a native plant garden that reflects its local ecology. Students prepare soil, identify species, observe insects, and create real habitat that supports wildlife year after year.
Grow
Students help care for their garden as it establishes. They monitor seasonal changes, learn how species interact, and begin to understand the food web in a hands on way.
Propagate
Students learn to collect and grow seeds from their campus gardens. These student-grown plants will revitalize homes, neighborhoods, and community spaces – expanding habitats far beyond school grounds.
Pilot Program Statistics
Impact:
7 gardens established with hundreds of native plants
Participation:
7 schools engaged, 8 teachers trained, over 650 students educated
Educator Familiarity with Native Plants:
Reported increase from 3.0 to 4.8 (5 point scale)
Educator Confidence Teaching Biodiversity:
Reported increase from 2.8 to 4.8 (5 point scale)
Increased Student Awareness of Biodiversity & Native Plants:
Reported 4.3 on 5 point scale
Hear From Our Pilot Educators
Hear From Our Pilot Educators
Why School Habitats Matter
Students everywhere deserve the chance to experience nature in a real and meaningful way. Schoolyards are often overlooked spaces, yet they hold the potential to become thriving pockets of habitat that benefit both wildlife and people. When students learn how ecosystems work and then take action to restore them, they gain confidence, curiosity, and a sense of responsibility for the world around them.
The HNP Schools Program helps students see themselves as conservationists. Each garden becomes a living classroom that connects lessons to the real world. Each propagated plant becomes a new piece of habitat in a neighborhood or school community. These experiences help grow a culture of stewardship that can spread across towns, districts, and entire regions.
This is how we rebuild biodiversity from the ground up, one school at a time.
Up Next: We're Expanding!
- Reaching new locations across the country
- Supporting multi-year cohorts as gardens mature
- Strengthening teacher training and ongoing support
- Building digital resources for year over year use
- Increasing biodiversity monitoring and student led data collection
Funding makes it possible to train educators, provide materials, expand garden installations, and support underserved districts.
Up Next: We're Expanding!
- Reaching new locations across the country
- Supporting multi-year cohorts as gardens mature
- Strengthening teacher training and ongoing support
- Building digital resources for year over year use
- Increasing biodiversity monitoring and student led data collection
Funding makes it possible to train educators, provide materials, expand garden installations, and support underserved districts.
Interested in Funding Or Sponsoring A School?
We are actively seeking partners who want to support youth engagement, biodiversity education, and native planting in school communities.
To learn more, contact:
Krista De Cooke
Strategic Partnership & Science Lead krista@homegrownnationalpark.org
Interested in Funding Or Sponsoring A School?
We are actively seeking partners who want to support youth engagement, biodiversity education, and native planting in school communities.
To learn more, contact: Krista De Cooke
Strategic Partnership & Science Lead
krista@homegrownnationalpark.org
HNP Schools Program Supporters & Partners
