College Gardens Elementary School

White Flint Mall - MCPS Arts Festival (4/18 - 4/22)

A very limited selection of College Gardens student artwork will be displayed at the county-wide art show at White Flint Mall from Wednesday evening, April 18th to 5pm Sunday, April 22. Please stop by and see the College Gardens display on the first floor between Banana Republic and Victoria's Secret. Congratulations to Kindergarten students Sebastian Tulin, Jonah Bettridge, Cassandra Bradley, Amena Gibran, Lily Larsen, Nalini Butterworth, Izzy Sophir, Layla Flack, Liam Grogan, Andrea Quispe, Lauren Kim, Justin Tran, Yuna Chun and Brendan Regan, and to fifth-grade students Alexa Paat, Emily Pan, Ariana Galich, Aiden Shaw, Alice Qiu,Vanessa Graham-Yool, Brianna Turgott, Tommy Haeger and Erin Whalen. 

Community Dinner - Fontina Grille, Monday (4/23)

Don't miss our April Community Dinner/Fundraiser Night will be Monday, April 23rd, between 5pm to 9pm at Fontina Grille, 801 Pleasant Dr., Rockville (King Farm).  Invite your friends, family and neighbors to come join with our College Gardens community and enjoy delicious Italian fare (ask about the Monday night pasta special).  Bring the flyer and 10% of your purchase will be donated to the PTA! 

Also mark your calendar for these upcoming Community Dinners:

• May 3 - California Tortilla, 199 E. Montgomery Ave., Rockville (next to Regal Movie Theaters)
• May 23 - Buffalo Wild Wings, Rockville Town Square

Superintendent's Book Club - Tuesday (4/24) @ 7pm

Superintendent Joshua P. Starr will host his third Book Club discussion on Tuesday, April 24, at 7 p.m. in the auditorium at Carver Educational Services Center, 850 Hungerford Dr. in Rockville.

The book club will discuss The Global Achievement Gap by Tony Wagner. Parents, staff, students and community members who wish to be a part of the studio audience are asked to RSVP here. Viewers at home can participate by watching online or on MCPS TV (Comcast 34, Verizon FiOs 36, & RCN 89) and sending questions by Twitter and email. Hundreds of people participated in the first two Book Clubs, which featured the books Mindset: The New Psychology of Successand Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. You can watch those events on the Book Club website.

CGES Art Fair - Friday, May 11

Work from all College Gardens students will be on display at our school on the evening of Friday, May 11th. There will be fun hands-on art activities and food for sale as well.  Help is needed to run this event. If you are available now to help with displaying and labeling student artwork, or to help in with the final preparation in the days leading to the event, or on the night of the event itself, please contact Veronica Foley at veronicasfoley@yahoo.com

"How to Grow a School Garden" by: Arden Bucklin-Sporer and Rachel Kathleen Pringle

A school garden is an outdoor classroom oasis, attracting countless organisms, each a rich opportunity to teach students about the complex and fascinating ecosystem that we are all a part of. School gardens provide on-site “field trip” opportunities for students. School gardens may be as small as raised boxes on the asphalt play yard. In some cases, a school may have the space to take over an unused playing field or parking lot and turn it into a mini-farm with chickens and even goats or sheep. School gardens may be designed to help students learn about food and nutrition by planting edible crops, or lessons might focus on the local habitat by planting native plants. The common denominator of all school gardens, however, is that various classes utilize them as outdoor classrooms.

Numerous studies point to school gardens as a means of improving academic achievement, promoting healthy lifestyles, demonstrating the principles of stewardship, encouraging community and social development, and instilling a sense of place. Children benefit enormously from a working knowledge of good nutrition and healthy lifestyle choices, and this is compellingly taught in a school garden. Experiences in the garden infinitely improve students’ knowledge about and attitudes toward eating vegetables. Several studies show that students who grow their own food are much more likely to eat fresh fruits and vegetables or express a preference for these foods. (read full article)