How DA's Greenhouse & Garden Help Students Thrive

These natural spaces also offer a welcome counterbalance to our increasingly technology-driven lives. The greenhouse operates according to the rhythms of nature, indifferent to deadlines or expectations, offering a quiet reminder that not everything needs to happen on a schedule. Our students seem to recognize this intuitively. Students in Mrs. Gimbel’s 6th-grade class visit the greenhouse to water plants and take a “brain break” every Monday morning. When asked what they gain from visiting the greenhouse, Sav described it as "a breather," William as "a peaceful state of mind," and Xavier as "a time to reset and grow."

 

Beyond academics, tending a garden teaches patience, responsibility, and an appreciation for the natural world. Students work together, care for something outside themselves, and discover their place within a larger ecosystem. That sense of connection extends to faculty and staff, too. The greenhouse offers a welcome respite from classrooms and offices, bringing together colleagues whose paths might not otherwise cross during the school day. There is no competition in the garden, only the quiet satisfaction of participating in something that depends on their collective attention and care.

Education is about more than acquiring knowledge; it's also about learning how to care for ourselves, one another, and the world around us. At the Denver Academy Greenhouse and Garden, we're nurturing curiosity, connection, and a sense of belonging through our shared relationship with nature. And perhaps most importantly, we're giving students something every living thing needs to thrive: a little room to grow.