Wetland and Nature Preserve
The New Albany community is very proud of its wetlands nature preserve. Two federal laws, the Wetlands Protection Provision of the Clean Water Act and the Highway Beautification Act (ISTEA), have enabled the village government and the school board to cooperate with the Ohio Department of Transportation and the New Albany Company developer to acquire the preserve. The nature preserve has won high awards for the diversity of habitat that exists adjacent to the Learning Community campus. This nature study area is an extension of every classroom and the keystone of our K-12 curricular goals in environmental stewardship, local history, interpretive writing, mathematics of water flow, weather, surveying, art, and photography.
This natural habitat serves as a collaborative learning environment for all age groups from toddlers to senior citizens. We will be able to observe seasonal changes, from wildflower blooms to the annual migration of birds. It is our vision that this appreciation and enjoyment of nature will create a desire to preserve and sustain the earth’s natural systems for future generations—one of the greatest challenges of the 21st Century.
Our vision is of a K-12 school complex—wellness/daycare center, senior center, public library, and active recreation facilities—within walking distance of each school building and the village center. The Learning Community campus is now surrounded on the north, west, and south by a greenbelt of woodlands, wetlands, and streams and is a testimony to our unified community leadership.
A major environmental science objective is to create eventually a site-specific Nature Preserve Field Guide by having teachers and students at each grade level focus upon a particular natural feature or type of organism in order to document each with photographs and natural history narratives. All grade levels will help contribute to an age-appropriate base of knowledge of the habitats of each creature and its role in the ecosystem.
The New Albany • Plain Local Schools have established a two-year high school Environmental Science program in collaboration with the Eastland Career Center, Columbus State Community College, and The Ohio State University in order to manage the community’s nature preserve effectively. Students from 18 central Ohio high schools are eligible to apply for this environmental industry-endorsed program. These students are the stewards of the nature preserve and are responsible for the technical monitoring of the site and for the development and implementation of community education programs.
Environmental stewardship is a major interdisciplinary strand of the New Albany • Plain Local Schools K-12 Course of Study. “In the end, we will conserve only what we learn to love.” — Dioum Baba