Sunday, November 15, 2026
What was once a run-down playground at Grand Avenue Elementary School, in Baldwin, has been transformed into an outdoor classroom where students can get their hands dirty, explore nature and watch their lessons come to life.
The school, in the Uniondale School District, celebrated the opening of its Outdoor Learning Environment and Garden on Oct. 20 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The project, which began in 2024, was designed to offer students hands-on learning opportunities while honoring two beloved members of the school community.
“Through the collaborative efforts of the central office and our Buildings and Grounds Dpartment,” Principal Samantha Dias said, “we were able to transform this vision into a beautiful outdoor space that will provide meaningful learning opportunities for our students.”
Teachers Brittany Gross and Maureen Pustelniak helped bring Dias’s vision to life, securing $4,500 in grants from Whole Foods and the Newman’s Own Foundation, an organization that helps students who are under-resourced and face adversity.
“We really wanted this garden and this learning space to just have lasting impact, you know, on all of our students,” Gross said. “We talked a lot about having kids discover, be curious, experiment and collaborate, and also respect.”
With help from the district’s Buildings and Grounds Department, the playground was transformed with the removal of old equipment, the installation of fencing, the addition of gravel and the construction of eight raised garden beds as well as a drip irrigation system. The teachers worked alongside department employees, and filled the beds with roughly 200 bags of soil before planting began.
The garden will serve as an extension of the school’s classrooms, giving students a chance to plant vegetables, study pollinators, measure plant growth and document their observations. Teachers plan to incorporate science, math and writing lessons, and designated classes will maintain different sections of the garden.
“Classes can sign up for planting and harvesting — the kids will help us plant in the spring and do some weeding,” Pustelniak said. “They’re going to be measuring and look at soil samples, charting some growth.”
Students will grow cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce and root vegetables, including foods reflecting the varied cultural backgrounds of the school community. Younger children may plant sunflowers and measure their growth, while others will observe butterflies attracted to a butterfly bush.
Teachers are also considering using iPads to create time-lapse videos and digital journals documenting plant growth. There will be picnic tables for writing, drawing and collaborating outdoors.
Some students have already begun exploring the garden, watering plants, digging in the soil and discovering caterpillars and bees among the vegetation. Pustelniak recalled their excitement after the discovery of a caterpillar on a piece of kale.
“Some of my students have never gardened before or planted anything, and they’re just really excited about this,” she said. “Even just touching the dirt and getting our hands dirty, just seeing how — where their food comes from and how it grows.”
The excitement was evident during the opening ceremony, when students from every grade level spoke, performed or displayed handmade decorations.
“This special space will allow students and teachers to take learning beyond the walls of our school,” fifth-grader Camylla wrote in her speech. “Here, we will have opportunities to plant, observe, measure, experiment, collaborate and discover the wonders of the natural world.”
Students made butterflies out of coffee filters, as well as paper flowers and leaves featuring messages about growth and kindness. Fifth-graders also decorated “legacy rocks” with colorful designs and positive affirmations, leaving them in the garden as reminders of their time at Grand Avenue.
Beyond its educational purpose, the garden will serve as a memorial to two members of the school community. It was dedicated to Victoria Sorrentino, a kindergarten teacher who spent two decades at Grand Avenue before she died in 2020. The garden sits outside her former classroom, where she taught more than one generation of students.
“She was a singer — she had such a bubbly, warm, positive, caring personality,” Pustelniak recalled of Sorrentino. “She loved sunflowers and butterflies.”
Both were incorporated into the garden in Sorrentino’s memory, along with a sign bearing her name.
The eight garden beds are blue and white — the school colors — and a special blue bed in the center honors Aylani Burgos, a 7-year-old first-grader who died in a Queens house fire last November. The bed features a stone bearing her name, and will be planted with pink flowers, her favorite color.
Aylani’s former classmates, now second-graders, performed “What a Wonderful World” alongside music teacher Sadlon Williams during the ceremony, as a tribute to their friend.
“It’s really meaningful to dedicate these two members of our community,” Pustelniak said. “To have the kids just have a little pride of taking care of it in their honor.”
Following the student presentations, district Superintendent Monique Darrisaw-Akil and Dias officially opened the garden with a ribbon-cutting.
Looking ahead to spring, Gross and Pustelniak have reserved grant funding to buy more seeds, seedlings and supplies. They hope students will take ownership of the space, learning responsibility, cooperation and respect for nature through its continued care.
“Now we’re just going to let them shine and flourish.” Pustelniak said, “and discover what it’s like to take care of a garden.”
