The Gregory School Farmyard
The Gregory School is celebrating the 10 year anniversary of our living farmyard. Over the course of these years we have taken care of goats, chickens, ducks, pigeons, and bunnies in amazing numbers. This long running farmyard has followed the lifecycle of many of its inhabitants.
Our yard becomes an emotional place for students, our school community, and even our neighboring visitors. Students see animals born in our farmyard and also grow old in our farmyard. Our farmyard provides students a place to express love, duty, and purpose. A daily joy is when a student says,”Goodbye, I love you,” to every animal as he/she goes off to class. Animals bring us joy and love to our daily routines.
The yard also teaches many life skills about the needs of living creatures. It is a great responsibility for everyone on campus to look out for the needs of our special animal friends with beating hearts. The farmyard class completes a careful task list everyday with certain duties like food, water, and cleaning. Also, we have special building projects to keep our yard a safe and interesting environment for our animals. We started with a student built environment, but Rob Paulus, a parent and architect, made us a wonderful enclosure with buildings designed for efficiency, aesthetics, and joy.