College Hill Learning Garden

We designed this educational and demonstration garden to teach local students about environmentally friendly water use, food, energy, and waste systems. It is open for field trips and group tours by appointment.

The College Hill Learning Garden is an education and demonstration garden designed to teach local students about how they can help cities transition to ecologically friendly water, food, energy, and waste systems. Open to the public since April 2016, the garden is owned, maintained, and operated by the SFPUC. 

The Learning Garden contains dozens of interactive features, including a turtle pond, beehives, solar panels, a composting toilet, rain gardens, vegetable planters, and more. Located just off of Cortland Avenue in the Bernal Heights neighborhood, the site’s physical landscape was co-designed with the program's unique curriculum.

College Hill Learning Garden is available for class field trips, summer programs, and group tours and can accommodate up to 40 students (special arrangements can be made for larger groups). Field trips generally last two to three hours, while summer programs are 90 minutes long; both are free to any public school or organization serving public school students. Group tours of the garden can be requested for any group (student or adult), last 1 hour, and are available on Mondays and Fridays. See the events calendar below for all available dates and times. 

The Urban Stewards Program

The Urban Stewards Program is based on eight unique topics, aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards and SFPUC Big Ideas. Classes are encouraged to come for the full series over the course of a school year or summer, but are also welcome to schedule just one field trip, a 3-part series, or a custom series designed to suit specific learning objectives.

The Urban Stewards Program topics are:

	Living City Site Exploration Come explore the College Hill Learning Garden through a self-guided scavenger hunt that brings each student through the seven main themes of city sustainability demonstrated on the site.
	Our Healthy Watersheds Learn about urban water systems, rainwater, and watersheds through exploration, modeling, and stewardship.
	Rain Gardens Discover how rain gardens are used as a tool to protect our watersheds through exploration of the three on-site rain gardens.
	Planting for a Healthy Planet Learn how to take care of our environment through place appropriate planting by working with drought-tolerant and water-loving plants on site.
	Power in the City Learn about urban power generation by exploring renewable energy sources on-site and options for using power sustainably at school and at home.
	Urban Food Systems Discover how to grow healthy, sustainable food in the city and help us care for our edible garden.
	Full Cycle, Zero Waste Investigate how the city recycles materials by learning about our water catchment systems, compost bins, worm bin, and composting toilet (one of the city’s first).
	Our Shared Habitat Explore the various habitat examples on site and learn how to help create a biodiverse and interdependent city through stewardship.

Ready to book your field trip or tour of the garden?
See the event calendar below for available dates and times, and to complete an online request form. An educator will contact you once your request has been received to coordinate further.

Share calendar (external link)

Field Trip Requests

External link