2026 Summer Institute for Garden-based Teaching
July 14-17, 2026, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Apply Here

Overview

Since 2017, the Summer Institute for Garden-based Teaching (or Summer Institute) has inspired and supported 288 educators from 74 schools to more fully integrate their school garden into their daily educational activities.

This has been done by providing participants with the opportunity to connect with other educators, learn from each other’s experiences, practice implementing garden-based teaching, and gain strategies to incorporate and center student voices in their teaching practice. After completing 30 hours of training, participants gain experience and knowledge to facilitate student learning in school gardens.

Guiding Principals

• Schools create more sustainable, robust outdoor learning programs when they have a complete team of educators and community members involved in outdoor learning programs.
• Participants feel more engaged to do this work when they are connected with other educators, inside and outside of their school doing their own work.
• Participants come with their own personal and professional experiences that have value, and their understanding of their own context is critical to bringing garden-based teaching to life at their schools.
• Garden-based teaching offers the opportunity for cross-curricular activities that highlight the ways in which our personal, ecological and economic worlds are interconnected.

Impact

• Educators are teaching more garden-based lessons in the school year following the Summer Institute comparted to the school year before attending the Summer Institute.
• Three years after participating in the Summer Institute, educators are using the garden more and prioritizing garden-based teaching than they did before attending the Summer Institute.

Watch this video to hear from the educators who attended the 2025 Summer Institute.

2026 Application Deadline and Notification of Acceptance

Applications will be accepted from March 9 through May 1, 2026. The priority deadline is April 6, 2026.

Applicants will be notified on a rolling basis starting April 9, 2026, until full.

2026 Summer Institute for Garden-based Teaching Application

Location

The 2026 Summer Institute will take place at the United States National Arboretum, including the Washington Youth Garden. This training takes place both indoors and outdoors.

Eligible participants

• Are associated with a DCPS or public charter school (ex: teacher, staff, administrator, or volunteer) that has an existing school garden program
• Check to see if your school has an active school garden here.
• Apply with at least one other school team member
• Commit to attend all 30 hours of the institute

All participants receive a stipend. Stipend amounts are contingent upon finalized funding.

Participants will learn

• Outdoor group management techniques
• Garden-based lessons across content areas that connect to the K-5 Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Common Core State Standards
• How to sustain a school garden program
• Basics of garden design and maintenance
• Benefits of garden-based learning and teaching

Why does the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) support the Summer Institute for Garden-Based Teaching?

School gardens are found in many DC schools; however, they are underutilized by educators due to a few barriers. More than half of all DCPS and public charter schools in the District have school gardens. However, only 21 percent of educators at these schools use the school garden for teaching. The top three barriers identified by educators and administration at schools with gardens are[1]:

• Time constraints
• Lack of help or assistance in the garden
• Lack of teacher involvement or interest

Through the data collected by the OSSE School Gardens Program using the University of Texas School Garden Sustainability Survey and the School Garden Registration Form, there is an opportunity to better support classroom teachers to engage students using garden-based instruction while utilizing school gardens as a tool for standards-based instruction.

Research also shows that learning in natural environments can boost performance in reading, writing, math, science, and social studies (A.E. Pigg, 2006; James, 2010) and reduce stress, anger, and aggression (Chawla, 2014). Also, teachers who work in schools with garden programs have higher workplace morale and increased “general satisfaction with being a teacher at that school” (Skelly & Bradley, 2000).

The Summer Institute works towards the following solutions:

• Increase in the frequency of garden-based lessons.
• Increase in the number of teachers prioritizing garden-based teaching.

Questions about the Summer Institute? Email Sam Ullery at [email protected].

Interested in learning more? Visit the Friends of the National Arboretum School Garden Support Program Page.

[1] Based on results from the EdEN Lab School Garden Sustainability Survey that was administered to DC School Gardens during the 2023-24 school year.