Save the Monte Gardens Elementary School Garden & Nutrition Program
The Issue
Please note: This petition is for signatures only. Any donations made through this page are used by Change.org to promote the petition. They do not go to the Garden & Nutrition program at Monte Gardens. If you donated mistakenly, please request a refund from Change.org directly. Any fundraising for the program will be announced through official school channels.
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More Than a Garden
Monte Gardens Elementary is home to something rare and irreplaceable. The Outdoor Garden Class & Nutrition Education Program is not simply a garden. It is a vibrant educational environment where children discover the wonders of science, nutrition, ecology, and environmental stewardship through direct, embodied experience. Here, the principles of the International Baccalaureate and Common Core standards come alive in the soil. For many of our students, this is where they plant their very first seed, learn where their food comes from, and prepare a nourishing meal with their own hands.
For children who find traditional classroom settings difficult, the garden offers something no worksheet or lesson plan can replicate: a place where they feel calm, capable, and truly seen. Students who may feel overlooked or disconnected in other settings come alive here. The garden meets them where they are and gives them the experience of succeeding at something real and living.
**At the heart of this program is Miss Tangerine Taylor.**
Over the past four years, Miss Taylor has nurtured not only a flourishing garden but a thriving educational community. She is far more than someone who tends plants with students. She is a professional guide, a mentor, and a trusted steady presence. Her curriculum, her expertise, and her genuine love for this work have planted seeds of curiosity and confidence in countless students. Children who may struggle elsewhere come alive under her care. To lose Miss Tangerine Taylor and this program in a single decision would be to take away something our children have come to count on in ways they may not yet have words for.
The future of this beloved program is now under threat. The school may lose this precious resource due to impending budget cuts or shifts in educational priorities. The potential loss of the Garden & Nutrition Program would deprive students of essential life lessons and a sense of wonder and discovery that a living outdoor classroom uniquely provides.
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The Research Is Unambiguous
The benefits of programs like this one are not theoretical. They are measurable and significant, with impacts on physiology, behavior, and academics. Research consistently highlights the benefits of experiential learning and outdoor education, which have been shown to improve cognitive functioning, foster emotional wellbeing, enhance academic achievement, shape dietary behavior, support biological health, and expand children's sense of who they can become.
A 2024 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health confirms that nature exposure has robust beneficial effects on attention and cognitive performance in children, including those with ADHD. A separate 2024 systematic review found that exposure to gardens and natural spaces measurably reduces stress biomarkers including heart rate and cortisol in children. These are not small effects. They show up directly in how our children learn, regulate, and engage every single day.
A 2024 systematic review of elementary school garden programs (Issues in Educational Research, Walshe et al.) found that school gardens consistently support student engagement and academic learning across subjects including science, mathematics, and English, while also building physical health, emotional wellbeing, and environmental connection.
Research on garden-based learning in low-income middle schools found that students who engaged in school garden programs showed stronger science motivation, achievement, and science identity, suggesting that programs like ours, introduced in the elementary years, lay the foundation for long-term STEM learning and career awareness (Williams et al., 2018, International Journal of STEM Education).
In the first randomized controlled trial to examine academic outcomes from a school garden program, researchers found a statistically significant 6.5-percentage-point gain in reading scores for students at schools with year-round gardening, nutrition, and cooking programs compared to those without (Davis et al., 2023, Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics). A companion study from the same program also found significant increases in children's preferences for fruits and vegetables and their confidence in cooking and gardening (Vandyousefi et al., 2023, Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics).
A 2025 randomized study of third graders across 99 schools in low-income Alabama communities found that students at schools with gardens had the highest fruit and vegetable consumption, and that combining garden programs with nutrition education produced the greatest dietary improvements of all groups studied (Sanchez et al., Journal of School Health).
A 2024 study in the World Allergy Organization Journal adds another dimension: soil exposure during early childhood modifies gut microbiota in ways that protect against allergic disease and support immune development. We are in a critical developmental window. What our youngest students experience in these years shapes their biology and their sense of the world in ways that are very difficult to restore later.
The research is clear: programs like ours don't just enrich childhood; they shape it in ways that matter for a lifetime.
_______
What Cannot Be Measured
Beyond the data, the garden teaches patience, responsibility, resilience, and the understanding that effort and care over time produce something real and nourishing. It builds community across grade levels, invites families into the school in meaningful ways, and fosters teamwork, creativity, and deep respect for the natural world. These are the qualities we hope every child leaves Monte Gardens having developed.
The soil health, the student relationships, and the institutional knowledge Miss Taylor has built over four years take years to develop. They cannot be easily replaced once lost.
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Our Ask
We, the undersigned parents, educators, and community members, implore the Mt. Diablo Unified School District Board and all relevant stakeholders to recognize the immense value of the Monte Gardens Outdoor Garden Classroom & Nutrition Education Program and to do everything in their power to retain it.
We ask that no final decision to eliminate this program be made without full community input, and that every possible alternative to elimination be explored before that decision is reached.
Please sign this petition to protect the Garden & Nutrition Program, to honor the transformative work of Miss Tangerine Taylor, and to safeguard the future of our children’s education at Monte Gardens Elementary.
Please note: This petition is for signatures only. Any donations made through this page are used by Change.org to promote the petition. They do not go to the Garden & Nutrition program at Monte Gardens. If you donated mistakenly, please request a refund from Change.org directly. Any fundraising for the program will be announced through official school channels.
372
The Issue
Please note: This petition is for signatures only. Any donations made through this page are used by Change.org to promote the petition. They do not go to the Garden & Nutrition program at Monte Gardens. If you donated mistakenly, please request a refund from Change.org directly. Any fundraising for the program will be announced through official school channels.
_______
More Than a Garden
Monte Gardens Elementary is home to something rare and irreplaceable. The Outdoor Garden Class & Nutrition Education Program is not simply a garden. It is a vibrant educational environment where children discover the wonders of science, nutrition, ecology, and environmental stewardship through direct, embodied experience. Here, the principles of the International Baccalaureate and Common Core standards come alive in the soil. For many of our students, this is where they plant their very first seed, learn where their food comes from, and prepare a nourishing meal with their own hands.
For children who find traditional classroom settings difficult, the garden offers something no worksheet or lesson plan can replicate: a place where they feel calm, capable, and truly seen. Students who may feel overlooked or disconnected in other settings come alive here. The garden meets them where they are and gives them the experience of succeeding at something real and living.
**At the heart of this program is Miss Tangerine Taylor.**
Over the past four years, Miss Taylor has nurtured not only a flourishing garden but a thriving educational community. She is far more than someone who tends plants with students. She is a professional guide, a mentor, and a trusted steady presence. Her curriculum, her expertise, and her genuine love for this work have planted seeds of curiosity and confidence in countless students. Children who may struggle elsewhere come alive under her care. To lose Miss Tangerine Taylor and this program in a single decision would be to take away something our children have come to count on in ways they may not yet have words for.
The future of this beloved program is now under threat. The school may lose this precious resource due to impending budget cuts or shifts in educational priorities. The potential loss of the Garden & Nutrition Program would deprive students of essential life lessons and a sense of wonder and discovery that a living outdoor classroom uniquely provides.
_______
The Research Is Unambiguous
The benefits of programs like this one are not theoretical. They are measurable and significant, with impacts on physiology, behavior, and academics. Research consistently highlights the benefits of experiential learning and outdoor education, which have been shown to improve cognitive functioning, foster emotional wellbeing, enhance academic achievement, shape dietary behavior, support biological health, and expand children's sense of who they can become.
A 2024 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health confirms that nature exposure has robust beneficial effects on attention and cognitive performance in children, including those with ADHD. A separate 2024 systematic review found that exposure to gardens and natural spaces measurably reduces stress biomarkers including heart rate and cortisol in children. These are not small effects. They show up directly in how our children learn, regulate, and engage every single day.
A 2024 systematic review of elementary school garden programs (Issues in Educational Research, Walshe et al.) found that school gardens consistently support student engagement and academic learning across subjects including science, mathematics, and English, while also building physical health, emotional wellbeing, and environmental connection.
Research on garden-based learning in low-income middle schools found that students who engaged in school garden programs showed stronger science motivation, achievement, and science identity, suggesting that programs like ours, introduced in the elementary years, lay the foundation for long-term STEM learning and career awareness (Williams et al., 2018, International Journal of STEM Education).
In the first randomized controlled trial to examine academic outcomes from a school garden program, researchers found a statistically significant 6.5-percentage-point gain in reading scores for students at schools with year-round gardening, nutrition, and cooking programs compared to those without (Davis et al., 2023, Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics). A companion study from the same program also found significant increases in children's preferences for fruits and vegetables and their confidence in cooking and gardening (Vandyousefi et al., 2023, Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics).
A 2025 randomized study of third graders across 99 schools in low-income Alabama communities found that students at schools with gardens had the highest fruit and vegetable consumption, and that combining garden programs with nutrition education produced the greatest dietary improvements of all groups studied (Sanchez et al., Journal of School Health).
A 2024 study in the World Allergy Organization Journal adds another dimension: soil exposure during early childhood modifies gut microbiota in ways that protect against allergic disease and support immune development. We are in a critical developmental window. What our youngest students experience in these years shapes their biology and their sense of the world in ways that are very difficult to restore later.
The research is clear: programs like ours don't just enrich childhood; they shape it in ways that matter for a lifetime.
_______
What Cannot Be Measured
Beyond the data, the garden teaches patience, responsibility, resilience, and the understanding that effort and care over time produce something real and nourishing. It builds community across grade levels, invites families into the school in meaningful ways, and fosters teamwork, creativity, and deep respect for the natural world. These are the qualities we hope every child leaves Monte Gardens having developed.
The soil health, the student relationships, and the institutional knowledge Miss Taylor has built over four years take years to develop. They cannot be easily replaced once lost.
_______
Our Ask
We, the undersigned parents, educators, and community members, implore the Mt. Diablo Unified School District Board and all relevant stakeholders to recognize the immense value of the Monte Gardens Outdoor Garden Classroom & Nutrition Education Program and to do everything in their power to retain it.
We ask that no final decision to eliminate this program be made without full community input, and that every possible alternative to elimination be explored before that decision is reached.
Please sign this petition to protect the Garden & Nutrition Program, to honor the transformative work of Miss Tangerine Taylor, and to safeguard the future of our children’s education at Monte Gardens Elementary.
Please note: This petition is for signatures only. Any donations made through this page are used by Change.org to promote the petition. They do not go to the Garden & Nutrition program at Monte Gardens. If you donated mistakenly, please request a refund from Change.org directly. Any fundraising for the program will be announced through official school channels.
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Petition created on May 25, 2026