Harper PTO

Harper Garden Committee

Harper Garden Art Project

Get excited for the Harper Garden Art Project!  Art teacher, Catherine Tromp, has a wonderful vision for how we can decorate the garden with beautifully adorned stones and mosaics, created by our Harper students.  We would love student and parent volunteers to attend these events and help run different stations. 

Please sign up to attend with your children and grab a friend and help create this beautiful project.

See event details below:

  • Harper Elementary Garden and Kindergarten playground.
  • Fridays, May 19 and 26 after school
  • 2:15pm – 4:15pm

Please note, if there is a rain day then the dates will be shifted to 5/26 and 6/2.  Hope you can join!  The more the merrier!

 Sign up to help now! Space is limited.

SIGN UP HERE

Harper Garden

The Harper Garden was created in 2003 when Kathy Hofschield, then a first grade teacher, received grants from both the Chicago Botanic Garden and the District 39 Educational Foundation. Harper students, parents, and teachers worked side by side with the horticulturists of the Chicago Botanic Garden to conceptualize and build the new space. Currently, the garden features six raised beds for planting fruits and vegetables, a cozy tree stump reading nook, a relaxing bridge over a Mexican Pebble “river,” and a beautiful hand-painted rock path through a wild prairie garden. The space has stayed true to Ms. Hofschield’s original goal to provide a sanctuary that encourages children to rest, reflect, and care for the environment.

Parent volunteers are absolutely vital to the success of the garden and the quality of each child’s experience while in it! Students work in the garden planting, weeding, harvesting, and watering. Be prepared to get a little dirty while volunteering!

The Organic Gardener is ready to get started on our garden beds!!

  • We are planning to prepare the garden beds for planting this Thursday, May 4th.
  • We are planning to plant the garden on May 24th with summer growing crops that will be harvested in the fall.
  • Starting June 8th, we will maintain the garden every other Thursday afternoon.
  • When school resumes in the fall, we will welcome classes into the garden twice a month on Thursday afternoons.
We will be looking for families and volunteers to help us water the garden this summer.  Most likely the days will be Sundays and Tuesdays.  I am going to create a signup genius for this and will send it to you when it’s ready!

More information on volunteer sign ups coming soon!  Please email the Garden committee at garden@harperpto.com with any questions.