SETH BOYDEN OUTDOOR LEARNING CENTER

This campaign reached its funding goal with gratitude to the South Orange Rotary Club!


SETH BOYDEN OUTDOOR LEARNING CENTER & PAVILION – A FREE-STANDING OUTDOOR CLASSROOM!


Parents, teachers and staff of Seth Boyden Demonstration School have worked together to create an exciting outdoor learning space that stimulates the minds and bodies of our students.  Supporting the Multiple Intelligences framework adopted by our school, it will provide opportunities for outdoor and environmental learning, physical and sensory activities, performance, and exploration and discovery of the natural world.


The Outdoor Learning Pavilion will create a learning environment where nature is the focus, serving as a classroom, performance venue and meeting place. Passive solar techniques have been integrated into its design to create a comfortable space year round. The structure will provide shade during warm months and is made of heat absorbing surfaces to temper the cold winters.  A large sundial will cast shadows throughout the day, helping children understand the relationship of the position of the sun to the passing of time. It will be wired with electrical outlets, WiFi capability and PA system connected to the school.   We are grateful to our architect, Seth Boyden parent Huzefa Irfani, who donated his services and time.


We are proud at the progress that has been made to date. The Maplewood/South Orange Board of Education has approved the plans and we are now awaiting State approval. Significant funds have been raised and we will continue those efforts in order to meet our goal of a functional outdoor classroom in 2014.


Please help support this wonderful project! 




ABOUT SETH BOYDEN DEMONSTRATION SCHOOL  


The Seth Boyden Demonstration School in Maplewood, New Jersey is one of six elementary schools in the South Orange Maplewood School District, a district serving 6,532 students in two racially and economically diverse New Jersey towns. 


Seth Boyden follows a teaching philosophy that embraces the theory of Multiple Intelligences, a concept that “intelligence” involves a broad range of human capacities and talents and that children learn better teaching methods address these learning differences.  It is this teaching approach that distinguishes our school and makes us a “demonstration” school for the rest of the South Orange Maplewood district.  


Studies show a strong correlation between outdoor learning and academic success, particularly among lower-income and urban minority students, a population served by our school.  Of our students 32% are eligible for a free or reduced lunch. At Seth Boyden, children of diverse racial and socio-economic backgrounds have the opportunity to develop, learn and achieve their fullest potential alongside each other. 




The Seth Boyden Demonstration School Parent Teachers Association (PTA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the realization of the school’s educational vision and to fostering citizen engagement in school and community affairs.