BALTIMORE — The National Wildlife Federation will bring its Schoolyard Habitats program to Watershed Public Charter School, with the support of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed – Implementation Grant. The school will receive a pollinator garden featuring native plants, two cisterns, and a micro-bioretention area – plus design plans for two future bioretention areas. These installations will improve water quality while also creating native wildlife habitat and fostering outdoor learning experiences for students within Baltimore’s Gwynns Falls watershed.

The project also includes training funded by Northrop Grumman for school staff and greater Baltimore County teachers on how to utilize the installations as an outdoor classroom for experiential learning and curriculum enhancement. Baltimore Gas and Electric is also supporting the project by providing funds for an additional pollinator garden.

“Teaching kids from an early age about the importance of protecting our wildlife and natural resources is the best thing we can do if we want to provide them with a healthy future and environment,” said Holly Gallagher, senior manager of education and community conservation. “At the National Wildlife Federation, we are proud to partner up with the Watershed Public Charter School and educate our younger generations to be the change that our world so badly needs right now.”

“At the Watershed Public Charter School, environmental literacy plays a fundamental part in our curriculum, as we aim to prepare our students to become responsible members of society once they leave the classroom,” said Jessie Lehson, director of the Watershed Public Charter School. “We look forward to partnering with the National Wildlife Federation, and trust that this project will allow our school to continue delivering quality environmental education and tools for our students.”

The National Wildlife Federation is pleased to partner on this project with Baltimore-based CityScape Engineering and Blue Water Baltimore, experts on stormwater management system design and implementation.

The Watershed Public Charter School, which opened in September 2019, provides Baltimore County students with a rigorous and collaborative learning environment emphasizing artistic expression and scientific exploration of the natural world, in and outside the classroom. Students develop critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills, as well as a sense of social responsibility and global awareness that promote a lifelong love of learning.