(WASHINGTON, DC) – Today, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education announced the 21 District public and public charter schools selected as grant recipients through the School Garden Grant program, an initiative of the D.C. Healthy Schools Act. Collectively, nearly $300,000 in grant funds will be distributed between March 2014 and March 2015 to facilitate garden-based learning and nutrition education.

Now in its third year, OSSE’s School Garden Grant program aims to increase the capacity and scope of DC school gardens as educational resources. As such, the grant promotes the use of the school garden by school personnel to facilitate meaningful learning experiences for students in the classroom, garden, and cafeteria. This three-pronged approach helps students gain exposure to new foods and insight into the source of their food and the myriad benefits of gardening and consuming locally grown produce.

Representing both District of Columbia Public Schools and District Public Charter Schools and selected after a competitive application process for awards up to $15,000 each to fund new and active school gardens and farm to school programs, the recipients are:

Ward 1: H.D. Cooke ES, Harriet Tubman ES, Columbia Heights Educational Campus, and DC Bilingual PCS

Ward 2: Seaton ES

Ward 3: Horace Mann ES, John Eaton ES*

Ward 4: Capital City PCS, E.L. Haynes PCS

Ward 5: Elsie Whitlow Stokes PCS, Washington Yu Ying PCS, Tree of Life Community PCS*, and Mundo Verde Bilingual PCS

Ward 6: Tyler ES, Watkins ES, Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan, Eastern Senior HS, and JO Wilson ES

Ward 7: Sousa MS* and DC Prep PCS

Ward 8: Thurgood Marshall Academy PCS

*New school garden