The Junior League of Greenwich worked closely with Family Centers to plan and implement an interactive learning garden at the Grauer Preschool in Greenwich on Sunday, June 3rd. The garden will provide an outdoor setting for children to gain hands-on experience in growing their own food, while teaching social and leadership skills, as well as health and nutrition.

The Junior League worked closely with Family Centers this spring in planning the raised garden beds to be used as an educational, interactive garden. Committee members were eager to get their hands dirty, and showed up to build the garden itself this past Sunday, along with a team member from Family Centers, and a gardening advisor.
Beginning this summer, the Grauer Preschool curriculum will include gardening, where students will plant and care for vegetables, which they will enjoy together once they are ready for harvest.

The Grauer Preschool is one of Family Centers’ four preschool sites accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The facility originally opened in 1907, and was Greenwich’s first preschool. Later, it became the first preschool in town to offer full-day services to accommodate working mothers in World War II. Family Centers’ preschool sites offer quality full-day, full-year early childhood education that are developmentally and socially rich for children between the ages of 6-weeks and five years. Family Centers is a private, nonprofit organization offering education and human services to children, adults and families in Fairfield County. Visit www.familycenters.org for additional information.