Oct. 5-11, 2026

School gardens in the District are thriving, and OSSE wants everyone to know it! During the 2025-26 school year, the District had 125 schools with gardens, over 16,000 students engaged in garden-based learning, and over 1,000 teachers engaged in garden-based teaching. 

Background

DC School Garden Week began almost 20 years ago in 2007 under the leadership of the DC Environmental Education Consortium and then led by the DC Department of Energy and Environment in 2009. After the Healthy Schools Act passed in 2010, OSSE became a partner and started hosting activities to highlight school gardens. Over the years, this celebration has taken a variety of forms. Currently, School Garden Week takes place each October to highlight the time of year in which gardens are most actively used by students and teachers.

Participating in School Garden Week

• Follow OSSE and other DC government agencies through the Gardenpalooza Dashboard as we kick-off DC School Garden Week by visiting every school garden in the District on Oct. 5, 2026. 
• Students can submit entries for the Gilda Allen Best School Garden Award. Entries will be accepted from Oct. 5 to Nov. 24, 2026. 
• Learn more about school gardens that were active during the 2025-26 school year by visiting the Thriving Schools Gardens Storymap.
• Attend the Capital LEAF Relaunch Webinar on Thursday, Oct.8 and discover the supports that are available to help schools increase sustainability and environmental education efforts. Learn more and register here. 
• Share a School Garden Success! OSSE wants to share your success with the public as an example of the incredible work happening in school gardens across the District.
• School staff can share their successes through social media (#DCschoolgardenweek).

Related content: School Gardens Program (SGP)