After implementing outdoor raised-bed garden classrooms, Boston Public Schools (BPS) is enacting the Inclusive Education Plan for multilingual, disabled and Black and Latinx students.
The Inclusive Education Plan aims to create a welcoming space by providing targeted support for students. This plan offers new resources, staffing and support for improving classroom instruction for multilingual and disabled students. Boston Latin School Special Education teacher Ms. Jenna Brown says, “We owe it to all our students with disabilities to make sure that they have the same amount of access and choice as everybody else.”
This school year, BPS is currently in the planning stage. By the 2024-2025 school year, BPS will start implementing inclusion support for kindergarten, seventh- and ninth-grade students in addition to multilingual learner services for kindergarten through eighth-grade students. The remaining services will be implemented through to the 2027-2028 school year.
The goal of this plan is to strengthen multilingual students and ensure they do not fall behind their classmates due to lack of support. According to BPS, multilingual students are two and a half times more likely to be identified with a communication disability and separated from their peers as a result.
Remarking on the benefits of inclusive spaces, BLS English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers Dr. Kelly Sample and Mrs. Caroline Dolan say, “[Multilingual students] can learn from their native English speaking peers while also feeling empowered to share their culture, language and experiences.”
BPS has already shown success in creating an inclusive space with the newly-implemented outdoor freight farm-style gardens for ten schools in Boston. BPS Superintendent Mary Skipper says, “The additional ten school gardens […] help build a sense of environmental responsibility and community engagement among our students.” Partnering with Grow Boston, the city’s new Office of Urban Agriculture, they hope to expand the program so that every school in the district eventually has the opportunity for outdoor learning.
Outdoor education can play a key role in students’ lives, even strengthening their academic performance — when students gain experience in real-world situations, they develop a deeper understanding of concepts they learn in the classroom. Hands-on experience with these gardens, moreover, may encourage students to explore the ever-growing industry of sustainable energy.
With the raised-bed garden classrooms, students benefit from taking a break from their daily routine inside indoor classrooms. Ms. Brown remarks, “Having opportunities for students to interact in a learning environment like an outdoor garden would give them a chance to feel connected to school, and let some of their strengths shine through outside of the classroom.”
Outdoor education also improves students’ mental health and helps them communicate more effectively with others. By developing social relationships and collaboration skills, students are less likely to feel isolated and depressed.
The garden plan, however, comes with challenges, including budgeting, staffing and space planning. BLS Gardening & Horticulture President Zubair Hasan (II) says, “One of the main challenges that we see is cost because we would have to replenish soil and water. We’re hoping to do one joint fundraising campaign, especially in the spring, so we can […] garner more support to actually fix up […] the garden beds.”
Since inclusive spaces increase students’ overall academic performance, they can play an important role in helping BPS avoid state takeover. As of last year, BPS was classified as an “underperforming” school district by the state. Since then, in addition to the initiatives mentioned above, Mayor Michelle Wu has worked on budgeting and transportation to bring the city out of that category.
Looking toward the future, teachers at BLS also have more ideas for incorporating inclusive spaces for students, including implementing a heritage reading program for bilingual students and promoting more clubs.
The Inclusive Education Plan and the raised-bed garden classrooms strive to create a welcoming environment for all students. Ms. Brown concludes, “I think the ideal situation is everyone, every single student at BLS, feeling like they belong, feeling like they’re seen, feeling like they’re heard.”