Timeline

		Year One		Year Two		Year Three
Jan		Share the concept (1)		Start working on final design (8)		Prepare for installation (11)
Feb		Form a committee (2)				Prepare for installation (11)
Mar		Start to gather stakeholder input (3)		Complete final design (8)		Prepare for installation (11)
Mar		Create your vision (3)		Get final school board approval (8)		Prepare for installation (11)
Apr		Get school board approval (4)		Create budget and determine project needs (9)		Create maintenance and stewardship plan
May		Get school board approval (4)		Target community for donations of materials and services. (10)		Install the site (12)
Jun		Start physical site survey (5)		Start writing funding proposals (10)		Celebrate the project (13)
Jul		Start physical site survey (5)		Start writing funding proposals (10)		Begin stewardship of the site (14, 15)
Aug		Start physical site survey (5)		Start writing funding proposals (10)		Begin stewardship of the site (14, 15)
Sep		Complete physical site survey, do cultural survey (5)		Submit proposals and seek other donations (10)		Begin stewardship of the site (14, 15)
Oct		Cultural site survey (5)		Submit proposals and seek other donations (10)		Begin stewardship of the site (14, 15)
Nov		Create bubble diagrams then seek input from stakeholders (6)		Submit proposals and seek other donations (10)		Begin stewardship of the site (14, 15)
Dec		Confirm locations for each phase and get school board approval (7)		Submit proposals and seek other donations (10)		Begin stewardship of the site (14, 15)

Vision

Design

Implementation

Completion

For more on the rationale behind a longer timeline, and narratives on schools that handled timing differently scroll down.

Taking the Time Required:

With a condensed timeline, what typically suffers is student and stakeholder involvement as these take time and effort to orchestrate.  Schools that move too quickly often find themselves waiting until the last minute to find out if their fundraising efforts have been successful and leave the project open to disappointment. A shortened timeline can also lead to volunteer burnout.  All these issues contribute to a project that is rushed and not carefully considered.

Ideally, schools will take between two and three years to plan their project. This allows for a more reasonable pace and work-load for volunteers, time to consult stakeholders and make adjustments as necessary and breathing room for unexpected developments. Schools are dynamic places and key staff may leave or the school undergo changes that take attention away from the project. A longer timeline creates flexibility and time for the school to be immersed in the planning, and better equipped to manage the project after planting.

Case Studies: A Story of Two Schools

School A planned their project in 10 months
The majority of the planning was done by the Parent Committee with minimal involvement from students and other stakeholders. The design was developed by a professional who visited the school only once.  The school had access to casino money, but because the design was not completed until January, they were not able to leverage these dollars to get matching funding. 

After planting, they needed to hire a water truck to water over the summer because there was not wide support from the parent community.  By the following fall there was very little teacher use of the site because they had not anticipated using this outdoor teaching space and did not incorporated it into their year plan.  Over time the site became neglected.

School B planned their project in 30 months (2 ½ years)
A committee made up of parents, a teacher, the principal and a community member spent the first few months talking to stakeholders and getting input.  The students took part in mapping the school ground and conducting the physical site survey.  One class researched the history of the school and the surrounding community. The older students worked with the landscape designer to create preliminary drawings and shared this with their peers.  Students worked with a naturalist to choose appropriate plant material. Finally, an Open House was held to introduce the ideas to parents and community members.

Students wrote letters to local businesses to ask for donations and the community association contributed some funds.  On the planting day every student was involved. Some families adopted the garden over the summer.  When the school returned in fall a maintenance schedule for each class was established and teachers began to book the outdoor space – this project truly became an outdoor classroom.