The School of the Future Roof Garden Project began in 1998. With the exception of Central Park, green space and access to nature is somewhat limited in New York City. The project sprang to life after a few students expressed a desire to bring a slice of nature to their metropolitan school. Soon thereafter, the 9th grade Integrated Science class made a decision and commitment to transform their empty school roof into a rooftop garden.

During the first year, students drew designs and formulated a master plan for the garden. They grew plants in class and studied their life cycles in detail. The Garden Club also built a scale model of their future rooftop garden. They visited the roof on a regular basis in order to document the changing light patterns. They even had the foresight to have a weight limit assessment conducted to insure that their garden would not compromise the architectural integrity of the school building.

Students were engaged in every aspect of the garden. They participated in grant writing, model creation, plant maintenance and propagation, actively sought donations and gained ownership by working in the garden. In fact, garden work was even incorporated into the After School Program. Garden Club members also volunteered their personal time on the weekends. To learn the finer details about garden design and maintenance, several of the students attended weekend classes provided by the Bronx Botanical Gardens.

Today, the roof blooms with arborvitae, Douglas fir, holly, rosebushes, and hemlock. The Garden Club created an "Ecology Mural" complete with a display case describing the ecology of the garden. During the summer, the plants continue to flourish because they thoughtfully installed a drip irrigation system. They have also built special decking and incline ramps in order to provide access to guests in wheelchairs. The students are currently building a greenhouse to help propagate plants that will attract native birds to their garden.

They will also be establishing a weather station and contributing data to the GLOBE program, which will be made available on the Worldwide Web. Eventually, the students would like to create a School of the Future "Rooftop Environmental Education Center" right in the middle of New York City.