New life is coming to a Hooksett Memorial School classroom.

Volunteers have been doing site work with the goal of transforming the school’s rectangular courtyard into an outdoor classroom, complete with self-sustaining habitats.

When completed, the outdoor classroom could include hundreds of plant and animal species.

“Science teachers just think this is the greatest thing,” said Ellie Stetson, Memorial School science curriculum co-coordinator.

Stetson was one of about a dozen volunteers, including Memorial Principal Carol Soucy, wielding tools on Friday, Nov. 10, laying new paths and preparing the ground for the winter months.

Volunteers have envisioned turning the courtyard into an outdoor classroom since the school was built three years ago.

“I think we saw a great environment that we had to take advantage of,” said Soucy.

A courtyard committee was formed and began initial designs for the project. Through some donations and grants, the group contracted master gardener Lauren Chase Rowell to assist with the project.

Memorial science teachers got students involved last year by asking for their designs. Detailed and colorful site maps created by students still adorn some hallways next to the courtyard.

“The idea was to get students to be a part of this from the beginning,” said Stetson.

Chase Rowell then took those student designs and worked them into her own design for the site.

The final plan includes four self-sustaining habitats: a meadow, a working garden, woodlands and moving water.

“The plan is very detailed,” said Soucy, “right down to each plant.”

The plan goes so far as to include things like rotting logs and brush piles, elements intended to create sustainable ecosystems.

“Those of us who are science teachers wanted to make sure it was very much an outdoor classroom,” Stetson said.

In the center of the courtyard, if all goes according to plan, will be a 24-foot-by-24-foot gazebo, large enough to accommodate student instruction.

Soucy said she’s invigorated by the educational opportunities an outdoor classroom – one that will always be naturally evolving – could provide.

“The possibilities are endless with how we can tie this to our curriculum,” she said.

Much of the school’s science curriculum focuses on active observation, and gathering field data to form hypotheses, said Soucy.

“Learning takes place in these real environments and not always at a desk in a classroom,” she said.

The classroom is also anticipated to inspire some artistic impulses in both students and art teachers.

Kiosks designed to display student artwork are planned for the site, as are areas where students can sit and quietly reflect.

“Part of this is that we want children to feel connected to their environment,” said Soucy.

Volunteers hope to begin planting and some construction in the courtyard by spring, depending on how much funding comes in in the next few months.

The committee is applying for grants, seeking donations and obtaining the cost estimates for the project.

“Right now there is a lot of excitement,” Soucy said. “It’s been a great collaborative and cooperative effort so far.”