Promising Practices

The following Promising Practices are resources share by School Garden Support Organizations to inform and strengthen your work of running school garden programs.
 
The SGSO Network aspires to build a constellation of organizations that support, sustain, and advance the school garden movement. As a community, we value open communication and sharing that encourages collaboration, networking, and the cross-pollination of ideas that can lead to unexpected results and solutions. 

 

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Promising Practices

Tools that can help SGSOs begin to do some of the work to answer these big questions and find the best ways to intertwine equity, inclusivity, diversity, and justice into all aspects of each school garden support organization. 
VIEW STRENGTHENING EQUITY & INCLUSION IN GARDEN EDUCATION
Identifying sustainable funding streams is a crucial element to ensure the success of school garden support organizations. We define sustainable funding as consistent, substantial and/or from permanent budget lines. The following resources provide an overview and examples of different funding models and sources that SGSOs rely upon.
VIEW FUNDING SCHOOL GARDEN WORK PROMISING PRACTICES
The success of garden-based education programs delivered by SGSOs is directly related to the extent that they are able to build trusting relationships and robust partnerships with a diversity of stakeholders. 
VIEW RELATIONSHIP BUILDING FOR PROGRAM SUCCESS
School Gardens require a dedicated team to thrive throughout the year. In this Promising Practice, find models for how different programs staff their gardens, ranging from volunteers to full-time staff.
VIEW SGSO & SCHOOL GARDEN STAFFING MODELS
Highlights promising practices shared by various SGSOs from across the country on how to develop a lesson sequence to support student learning; find the lessons you’re looking for; and adapt or improve upon them. 
VIEW FINDING, IMPROVING, AND SEQUENCING LESSONS
We strive for school garden programs to have access to quality evaluation tools and feel empowered to use them in meaningful and useful ways to improve their own programs; communicate with partners and funders; and share with the communities they serve. 
VIEW MEASURING IMPACT & SHARING RESULTS
We strive to ensure that all school garden stakeholders have the opportunity to participate in dynamic regional networks to connect with each other and share resources, ideas, questions, funding sources and support, and more! 
VIEW NETWORKING AND COMMUNICATIONS
Successful school garden professional development effectively supports school communities in using learning gardens as an instructional tool. It equips individuals, schools and organizations with the knowledge, language and tools to integrate the garden into the learning culture of the school or site. 
VIEW PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MODELS
SGSOs strive to support fully functional, easy-to-maintain school gardens that are integrated into the schoolyard. This promising Practice outlines strategies for managing more than one garden site simultaneously.
VIEW MAINTAINING MULTIPLE SCHOOL GARDENS
Many School Districts and State Agencies have built school garden support systems at the regional level. read on to find how different districts have approached these large-scale support models.
VIEW SCHOOL DISTRICT & REGIONAL SCHOOL GARDEN PROGRAMS

SGSO Network Promising Practices were generously funded by Whole Kids, a project Whole Foods Market Foundation, and developed in partnership with Life Lab.

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