Urban Adventure Squad brings community-based and hands-on outdoor learning programs to families, schools, and communities in the D.C. area through full-day programs when schools are closed and through partnerships with schools and community organizations during the school day and on weekends. We use the #CityAsAClassroom to explore science, history, art, math, reading, and writing during our curriculum-aligned outdoor learning programs. Our mobile, low supplies programs connect students and teachers to their communities in meaningful, memorable ways that foster community building, environmental stewardship, and a life-long love of learning.
Are you a parent, guardian, teacher, or administrator who would like to partner with Urban Adventure Squad? If so, please send us an email.
Are you a parent, guardian, teacher, or administrator who would like to partner with Urban Adventure Squad? If so, please send us an email.
C.W. Harris: Building a Culture of Outdoor Learning
The National Recreation Foundation awarded UAS a $30,000 grant to fund our “Building a Culture of Outdoor Learning" project with C.W. Harris Elementary School (www.cwharriselementary.org), a Title I public school in D.C.’s Ward 7 and
Studies show that outdoor learning has major mental, emotional, and physical benefits to learners, we also understand that outdoor learning is not a regular part of the DCPS school day. There are many reasons teachers are hesitant to bring their students outdoors. Teachers and administrators have expressed concerns that their students might run away or only see outdoors as only a place for playing. They’re worried about safety, particularly gun violence. And it’s difficult to make time for outdoor learning when so much time is spent on standardized tests.
Even when administrators are supportive of outdoor learning, teachers don’t always have the tools, experience, or time to figure out the best approach to learning outdoors with their students. With our “Building a Culture of Outdoor Learning” project, C.W. Harris is a pilot school where Urban Adventure Squad educators meet with teachers, develop and adapt lesson plans that match up with their curriculum, and take classes outdoors to connect with nature through math, science, social studies, and ELA activities.
The goal of this project is to create a school culture where teachers are comfortable leveraging the school's existing resources--it’s vegetable and pollinator garden, greenspaces, and bioretention areas--to increase students' connection to nature and align outdoor time with classroom lessons.
UAS lead programming on watersheds, tree science, and seed dispersal for grades 1-5. Our final project for SY23-24 was launching our Mobile Birding Libraries during the school’s Green Week following Earth Day. Mobile Birding Libraries are rolling carts full of birding-related supplies that teachers can “check out” and use to incorporate outdoor learning into their lessons. Supplies like binoculars, birding books, data collection sheets, and plush birds (with accurate bird calls!) can be integrated into any subject area and provide a simple entrypoint for educators to introduce their students using the #CityAsAClassrom.
The National Recreation Foundation awarded UAS a $30,000 grant to fund our “Building a Culture of Outdoor Learning" project with C.W. Harris Elementary School (www.cwharriselementary.org), a Title I public school in D.C.’s Ward 7 and
Studies show that outdoor learning has major mental, emotional, and physical benefits to learners, we also understand that outdoor learning is not a regular part of the DCPS school day. There are many reasons teachers are hesitant to bring their students outdoors. Teachers and administrators have expressed concerns that their students might run away or only see outdoors as only a place for playing. They’re worried about safety, particularly gun violence. And it’s difficult to make time for outdoor learning when so much time is spent on standardized tests.
Even when administrators are supportive of outdoor learning, teachers don’t always have the tools, experience, or time to figure out the best approach to learning outdoors with their students. With our “Building a Culture of Outdoor Learning” project, C.W. Harris is a pilot school where Urban Adventure Squad educators meet with teachers, develop and adapt lesson plans that match up with their curriculum, and take classes outdoors to connect with nature through math, science, social studies, and ELA activities.
The goal of this project is to create a school culture where teachers are comfortable leveraging the school's existing resources--it’s vegetable and pollinator garden, greenspaces, and bioretention areas--to increase students' connection to nature and align outdoor time with classroom lessons.
UAS lead programming on watersheds, tree science, and seed dispersal for grades 1-5. Our final project for SY23-24 was launching our Mobile Birding Libraries during the school’s Green Week following Earth Day. Mobile Birding Libraries are rolling carts full of birding-related supplies that teachers can “check out” and use to incorporate outdoor learning into their lessons. Supplies like binoculars, birding books, data collection sheets, and plush birds (with accurate bird calls!) can be integrated into any subject area and provide a simple entrypoint for educators to introduce their students using the #CityAsAClassrom.
SY23-24 Nature Near Schools program
In partnership with Casey Trees, Anacostia Watershed Society, and Living Classrooms, Urban Adventure Squad led the Nature Near Schools program at 24 partner schools, reaching over 1,000 4th grade students in all eight wards during SY23-24. This program is funded by the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment and focuses on Title I schools.
Urban Adventure Squad and Casey Trees led schoolyard-based field investigations focused on the movement of stormwater, pervious and impervious surfaces, and the role of trees and storm drains in the prevention of flooding and stormwater management. Anacostia Watershed Society and Living Classrooms led full-day field trips at Kingman and Heritage Islands to foster connections between students' schoolyard field investigations and the larger watershed and urban ecosystem.
Our SY23-24 Nature Near Schools partner schools were:
Amidon Bowen ES
Bancroft ES
Capital City PCS
Center City Brightwood PCS
Cleveland ES
C.W. Harris ES
DC Prep MS Edgewood Campus
E.W. Stokes Community Freedom PCS
Garrison ES
H.D. Cooke ES
John Lewis ES
Ketcham ES
Key ES
Malcom X ES
Marie Reed ES
Nalle ES
Noyes ES
Plummer ES
School Without Walls Francis Stevens
Sela PCS
Simon ES
Turner ES
Van Ness ES
Whittier ES
In partnership with Casey Trees, Anacostia Watershed Society, and Living Classrooms, Urban Adventure Squad led the Nature Near Schools program at 24 partner schools, reaching over 1,000 4th grade students in all eight wards during SY23-24. This program is funded by the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment and focuses on Title I schools.
Urban Adventure Squad and Casey Trees led schoolyard-based field investigations focused on the movement of stormwater, pervious and impervious surfaces, and the role of trees and storm drains in the prevention of flooding and stormwater management. Anacostia Watershed Society and Living Classrooms led full-day field trips at Kingman and Heritage Islands to foster connections between students' schoolyard field investigations and the larger watershed and urban ecosystem.
Our SY23-24 Nature Near Schools partner schools were:
Amidon Bowen ES
Bancroft ES
Capital City PCS
Center City Brightwood PCS
Cleveland ES
C.W. Harris ES
DC Prep MS Edgewood Campus
E.W. Stokes Community Freedom PCS
Garrison ES
H.D. Cooke ES
John Lewis ES
Ketcham ES
Key ES
Malcom X ES
Marie Reed ES
Nalle ES
Noyes ES
Plummer ES
School Without Walls Francis Stevens
Sela PCS
Simon ES
Turner ES
Van Ness ES
Whittier ES
U.S. Forest Service
During SY 23-24, we hosted a series of birding programs funded by the U.S. Forest Service Office of International Programs. These programs took place during the school day and included hands-on activities in the classroom and birding walks around the neighborhood. This partnership focused on local and migratory birds and the role humans can play in helping or harming these populations.
Students learned about what it means to migrate and the role these birds play in our local ecosystem, as well as the physical characteristics that set them apart from other species. Students practiced using binoculars to observe local and migratory birds in their neighborhoods and practice identifying them by sight and sound. Our education team created English-Spanish bilingual species cards to help students learn key features of common bird species.
Funding supported programming during our spring break and summer programs located at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, as well as special school-based visits to we’ve hosted this program at:
-Bancroft ES
-DC Bilingual PCS
-Sousa Middle School
TreeWise with Casey Trees
TreeWise is Casey Trees’ Junior Urban Forester curriculum that educates students on the importance of trees, their role in our ecosystem, and ways we can help them thrive. Casey Trees, whose mission is to enhance, restore, and protect the tree canopy of Washington, DC, by engaging and educating volunteers of all ages, provides UAS with funding to expand the reach of this programming. UAS educators are trained in the TreeWise curriculum and incorporate it during our outdoor learning partnerships with different schools and community groups.
This year, we’ve incorporated TreeWise activities into our spring break and summer programs. During our “Junior Ranger Adventure Squad: Migratory Species Investigation” spring break program at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, students investigated migratory birds and insects. Next, they learned about the importance of trees as a habitat, conducted tree identification, played a pollination game, and planted native plants. For our summer program at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, “Junior Ranger Adventure Squad: Birds and Bats in Our Neighborhood,” students learned what trees need for survival and played a tree trivia water relay game.
During the month of July, Urban Adventure Squad partnered with Capital City PCS and National Presbyterian School for a weekly series of outdoor learning programs. Students in these programs similarly identified the parts of a tree and their functions, practiced the fundamentals of neighborhood tree identification, and learned to calculate the height and age of a tree.
July Outdoor Learning Series:
Capital City PCS and National Presbyterian School
During the month of July, we led outdoor learning two days a week at Capital City PCS and National Presbyterian School. We worked with elementary school students and their teachers to connect them to their neighborhood green spaces through hands-on learning adventures. Capital City PCS students hiked through Fort Slocum Park to explore birding, food webs, tree identification, and bubble making. At National Presbyterian School, students used their schoolyard and Glover Archbold Park to observe birds, identify trees, and conduct an arthropod and insect study.
Peace Camp
In summer 2024, we were also happy to continue our longstanding partnership with Christ Lutheran Church by providing programming on Mondays at their new Peace Camp, developed by Pastor Renata Eustis and the Ward 4 Clergy for the Prevention of Gun Violence, with the hopes of serving children in the area who are in permanent supportive housing or who have a parent who is incarcerated or who may not have other camp options. We provided weekly programming for around 15 students ages 9-13 that included exploring the beaches of Rock Creek Park, Geocaching, learning about local wildlife, and building a campfire and making s'mores together.
Summer 2024: That's a wrap!
We are so grateful to our community partners, who provide us with beautiful locations where we can lead our summer programs, as well as making sure we have clean bathrooms, safe drinking water, emergency shelter, and so much more.
A big THANK YOU to:
-Friends of Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens
-Friends of the National Arboretum
-Washington Youth Garden
-Temple Micah
To see partnerships from previous years, visit our Past Partnerships page.
