Schools and districts may be able to expand their capacity and conduct outdoor learning by reassigning existing staff. However, many school systems will find this difficult without additional support. Community-based partners such as museums, zoos, aquariums, parks and recreation agencies, universities, environmental justice and outdoor education nonprofits — including residential outdoor schools — can provide valuable support and guidance. These organizations often have talented educators specifically trained to teach a variety of subjects in the outdoors. Many of these educators represent the community in which they work and may better understand the context, needs, and priorities therein. Community-based partners can provide educators who work directly with students or who can coach credentialed teachers in outdoor teaching practices. These partners can also help identify appropriate curriculum for outdoor learning. 

We have developed a set of questions that can help your school or district select, establish, maintain, and fund appropriate partnerships with community-based partners to support your outdoor learning needs assessment. To answer them, convene a group of stakeholders that includes, at minimum, site administrators, teachers, and support staff. Your community may also need to include additional key staff.

ASSESS YOUR SCHOOL’S NEEDS

Do we have enough certified staff and support staff (skilled adults) to adapt or develop curriculum and work with students in small groups, outdoors? 

If the answer is yes, then your planning becomes easier. If the answer is no, a community-based partner could provide additional staff to support students, in addition to building teacher capacity.

Do we plan to teach our standard curriculum of math, English language arts, science, and so on, outdoors? Or do we plan to use the outdoor environment as a context for learning where we teach the same standards, but through a nature-based or environmental lens? 

If you plan to teach the same curriculum outdoors, a community-based partner could help build internal capacity among your teachers to teach outdoors. A community-based partner can train your staff on outdoor classroom culture and management, help teachers adapt standard curriculum, and model outdoor learning strategies such as how to organize the space and keep student attention. Visit the Creating Outdoor Spaces chapter for more on setting up an outdoor classroom and our article on Outdoor Classroom Management for more on managing students in the space.

If you plan to use the outdoors as a context for learning, a community-based partner can help you go deeper in making curriculum connections, provide enriching outdoor experiences for students, and provide exciting professional learning for teachers.

What existing outdoor learning community-based partners do we already have that understand and are trusted by our community?

If you have community-based partners that were already helping you take learning outside pre-COVID, these same partners can support your new goals. Include them in your planning. If you did not have any community-based partners that were helping you pre-COVID, identify needs and cultivate a new partner using the steps below.

IDENTIFY NEW COMMUNITY-BASED PARTNERS

How do we find new partners to address staffing needs?

Reach out to local organizations you think could help. Do an online search for environmental education centers, science museums, zoos, or environmental nonprofits. Ask parents and community members for recommendations. Look for environmental justice and food justice organizations, youth development organizations, transportation safety groups, or parks and recreation agencies. These organizations have the capacity you may be looking for but do not self-identify as environmental or outdoor education organizations. See our resources page for a list of regional and national organizations that can help.

Create a “request for proposals” or a survey to solicit support. You can find sample solicitations below.

Whatcom County, Washington

Santa Cruz County Office of Education, California

E Movement, Colorado

MAKE YOUR PARTNERSHIP OFFICIAL AND STRONG

What needs should we outline in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a partner organization? 

Schools and districts could contract with staff from community-based partners to provide “boots on the ground” direct teaching support and outline the number of staff, number of days, and number of lessons that will be provided. Schools could also contract with community-based partners to provide professional learning to school staff and outline the number of hours, number of subjects, and the specific learning outcomes that will be met. 

Many environmental nonprofits, museums, and zoos have had to furlough or lay off staff due to the pandemic. Your school or district could contract with furloughed or laid-off staff from one of these organizations. Some community-based partners can simply reassign their educators without need of additional funding; therefore, an MOU that secures your partnership with no money changing hands might be appropriate.

A sample MOU can be found here.

How can we establish and maintain collaborative working relationships with our partner organizations that ensure the success of the partnerships? 

Schools and districts should work with community-based partners to establish clear goals for the partnership(s). Clarify a scope of work that outlines the expectations, roles, and responsibilities of each partner. The scope of work could include an outline of how resources such as classroom materials will be secured, what a maintenance schedule looks like, and how funds will be secured and allocated. The parties should establish outcomes and outputs as well as accountability measures for each partner. Points of contact for school/district and partner organization(s) should be outlined and shared with appropriate leadership. Meeting schedules and systems for communicating across partners (e.g., email group, shared documents, other tools) should be determined. The parties should decide who “hosts” or manages these resources.

DEVELOP FUNDING STRATEGIES

How will we fund this partnership? What strategy should we use?

School or District-led. Schools and districts can collaborate with a nonprofit that fundraises for your district. Schools should determine if they can use funding usually dedicated to field trips. Sometimes districts can secure additional state funds dedicated to “learning loss” (e.g., CARES Act Learning Loss Mitigation Funding) due to the pandemic. Additionally, schools can attempt to raise money from parents and potentially identify funds for providing childcare for children of essential workers and school district employees.

Partner-led. Community-based partners can develop a scope of work that fits with the district’s vision and then create a budget that matches. Here is an example community-based partner budget that doubles instructional capacity for schools via a cohort model of instruction. While one cohort is receiving instruction indoors from their classroom teacher, the other cohort is outdoors with a community-based partner staff person. This model means the school can open at 100 percent capacity and serve all students five days a week for full days of in-person learning. Nonprofits can look to local funders to support this work, such as community foundations, state university extensions, conservation districts, school district foundations, and corporate and private foundations.

Collaborative. Districts and community-based partners can work together to collaboratively find funding. A strong partnership may appeal to funders who might be more willing to support the effort if they know that the district and community-based partner leadership are fully onboard and working together. 

Corporate Sponsorship. Find a large corporation with local ties that may be willing to invest significant funds in the effort. The company may be looking for ways to support its employees in getting back to work, and having more students in school will allow its parent employees more flexibility in their work schedules.

State and Federal Funds. Ideally, outdoor learning could be implemented at scale with the use of federal or state funds. Currently, there is no mechanism for this to happen, but some statewide and national efforts are currently underway that would allow for funding to be used to expand learning outdoors. See the NAAEE Outdoor Classroom Policy guide for guidance.