We are pleased to share our program offerings for school and community youth groups for spring 2026. Our programs provide students and youth with hands-on outdoor experiences learning about environmental systems and the role they play as community stewards. Our program topics include food systems, ecology, and urban stewardship. All offerings are fully outdoors with no indoor location available.
Review the offerings below and the fee structure. When you are ready to request a workshop for your class, complete the Field Trip Request Form. A member of our team will follow-up with you to confirm your workshop. Submitting the form does not guarantee we will be able to accommodate your group.
Each rate is per class up to 30 students. Most offerings do incur a fee but we have a few no-cost options available, including Soil Science and Compost Application, Benefits of Pollinators and Native Plantings, and Street Tree Stewardship.
School District 1 – East Village and Lower East Side:
Duration: 60-120 minutes Grade Level: K-12 Capacity: 30 students
Food Justice: Water is Life workshop will connect students to the importance of the waterways and creatures that support our livelihoods as New Yorkers. This session will include a hands-on engineering experiment where students will experience the challenges of moving water from nature and equitably distributing it to a city. We will discuss the importance of protecting water for humans and creatures alike. The workshop will culminate with a garden watering activity.
This is a 1 hour workshop. For groups with more than 20 students, the class will be divided in half and another self-guided activity will be provided making the workshop 2 hours in total. There must be 1 adult per 5 students under the age of 13. Teachers with students age 13+ must have one chaperone.
When it’s offered: Late March-May, September-early November Location: 265 Henry Street New York, NY 10002 – Henry Street Settlement Headquarters
This site is a historic building and therefore is not ADA compliant. The courtyard garden is wheelchair accessible but the indoor restrooms are not.
Duration: 60-120 minutes Grade Level: K-12 Capacity: 30 students
Seed and Soil Sovereignty: Students explore seed sovereignty through beans and compost. We will discuss the importance of seed diversity and the right to clean soil. We will discuss native food ways and how to incorporate seasonal foods into our diets, connecting the power to grow our own food to food security. They will play with different soil components to create a class soil blend. Students will make their own soil blend to take home, a homemade bean germinator and how-to instructions for turning discarded containers into grow cups.
This is a 1 hour workshop. For groups with more than 20 students, the class will be divided in half and another self-guided activity will be provided making the workshop 2 hours in total. There must be 1 adult per 5 students under the age of 13. Teachers with students age 13+ must have 2 adult chaperones.
When it’s offered: Late March – May, September – early November Location: 265 Henry Street New York, NY 10002 – Henry Street Settlement Headquarters
This site is a historic building and therefore is not ADA compliant. The courtyard garden is wheelchair accessible but the indoor restrooms are not.
Duration: 90 minutes Grade Level: K-12 Capacity: 30 students
In this Intro to Food Justice workshop, students will learn about systemic issues of equity and access to healthy foods, including the history of redlining in New York City, and the role of food in individual, community, and environmental health. The session will start with a garden tour. They’ll explore how the community garden movement empowered local communities to grow their own food and learn about local activists who led the movement. They will self-explore the ways they would like to contribute to justice movements through community discourse activity. Students will engage in a design-your-own-community-garden drawing session, where they will implement newly learned considerations for garden planning. The session will be followed by a seedling transplanting activity.
This is a 1 hour workshop. For groups with more than 20 students, the class will be divided in half and another self-guided activity will be provided making the workshop 2 hours in total. There must be 1 adult per 5 students under the age of 13. Teachers with students age 13+ must have 2 adult chaperones.
When it’s offered: Late March – May, September – early November Location: 265 Henry Street New York, NY 10002 – Henry Street Settlement Headquarters
This site is a historic building and therefore is not ADA compliant. The courtyard garden is wheelchair accessible but the indoor restrooms are not.
Duration: 45-60 minutes Grade Level: 2K-K Capacity: 10 students
Bring your littles to our Food Justice Garden for an outdoor experience. We will learn about food and environmental justice through story time and puppetry outdoors in our fully enclosed garden space. The session will end with a watercolor and garden watering activity!
For this offering, there must be 1 adult chaperone per 4 students.
When it’s offered: April – May, September – early November Location: 265 Henry Street New York, NY 10002 – Henry Street Settlement Headquarters
This site is a historic building and therefore is not ADA compliant. The courtyard garden is wheelchair accessible but the indoor restrooms are not.
Duration: 120 minutes Grade Level: Grades 9-12 + College Max number of students: 25-30
Description: Students will learn basics of soil health, benefits of mulch, science behind compost and best practices for promoting healthy soil in our public parks. Students will then work alongside LES Ecology Center staff to apply compost to garden beds in need of soil improvement. Students will get a chance to work at each of 3 stations of spreading compost.
This program requires 1 adult chaperone for every 6 students. There is no fee for this offering.
When it’s offered: April Location: Lower East Side public parks such as Tompkins Square Park, East River Park, or Pier 42.
Duration: 120 minutes Grade Level: Grades 5-12 + College Max number of students: 15 Description: Students will learn about the benefits of pollinators in our green spaces in the city and how native plants support the lives of our pollinators. Students will learn about some of our key local plant and bug species that work in tandem to bring life back to our landscapes.
Students will then help the LES Ecology Staff in installing native plant material to provide support to our local pollinators.
This program requires 1 adult chaperone for every 6 students. There is no fee for this offering
When it’s offered: May – June Location: Lower East Side public parks such as Tompkins Square Park, East River Park, or Pier 42.
Duration: 60-90 minutes Grade Level: 2-12 Capacity: 25 students
In this hour-long, hands-on workshop, students will explore the role of street trees in the urban ecosystem and take part in a guided tree care activity. Students will learn about the challenges street trees face in an urban environment, how to care for street trees, and how tree care helps our street trees and greater urban forest thrive. Our workshop begins by reviewing the environmental benefits of street trees followed by a street tree care demonstration outlining the steps to street tree care: removing litter and weeds, aerating the soil, applying compost and mulch, and watering. Students will then break out into small groups to steward a tree bed, applying the steps learned during the demonstration.
There must be 1 adult per 5 students under the age of 12. Teachers with students age 12+ must have one adult chaperone per 10 students. There is no fee for this offering.
When it’s offered: April – Early November Location: If your school is located in District 1, the workshop will take place on your school block. If your school is located outside of D1, our team will identify a block in the Lower East Side.