The Campus is Part of the Curriculum

How a School’s Physical Environment Shapes Learning

There is a moment we see often when families first visit Foothill Country Day School.

They turn off a residential street in Claremont, enter the campus, and seem surprised by what they find: trees and rolling lawns, koi ponds and gardens, Craftsman-style buildings in natural colors, children walking outdoors between classes, and groups learning beneath the trees.

The word we hear again and again is peaceful.

Not silent. Foothill is a school, after all. Children are talking, playing, debating, laughing and occasionally running somewhere they probably should be walking. The campus is alive. But it feels different. For years, we have thought of that feeling as simply one of Foothill’s charms. Increasingly, research suggests it may be something more.

Children Learn From Their Surroundings, Too

When parents evaluate schools, they understandably focus on teachers, curriculum, class size and academic outcomes. Small classes certainly matter, and Foothill has deliberately maintained them.

But there is another question worth asking:

Where do I want my child to spend seven or eight hours every day? What would that feel like?

Researchers studying children and their environments have begun to find that the physical setting of a school can affect attention, stress, cognition, social interaction and well-being.

One study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, followed 2,593 children in grades 2–4 at 36 schools. Researchers found that greater exposure to greenery—particularly greenery at school—was associated with greater development in working memory and reductions in inattentiveness over a 12-month period.

That does not mean planting a tree raises a child’s test score. Human development is much more complicated than that. It does suggest that the landscape surrounding a child is part of the learning equation.

Nature Gives the Brain Somewhere to Recover

Think about what we ask children to do at school. Listen. Filter distractions. Remember instructions. Control impulses. Navigate friendships. Solve problems. Sit still when appropriate. Transition from one task to another. Recover from disappointment and begin again. All of that requires mental energy. Nature appears to help restore some of it.

Research has looked at what happens when children actually go outside. A 2022 systematic review examined 147 studies of nature-based outdoor learning. Across the research, outdoor learning was associated with benefits including student engagement, social and collaborative skills, self-concept, well-being and, in some studies, academic learning.

For preschoolers especially, this matters. Learning to regulate oneself—to wait, persist, shift attention, handle frustration and interact successfully with others—is a crucial part of their development that is sorely missing from an  iPad-addicted generation of preschoolers..

What About Behavior?

At Foothill, we have long observed that serious behavioral and disciplinary problems are relatively uncommon here. Certainly excellent teachers, close relationships, clear expectations, a strong community culture, and small classes contribute to that. Could the physical environment contribute, too?

We cannot say that our beautiful campus causes better behavior. No responsible research would allow us to make that leap. But there are reasons to believe it may help create the conditions in which good behavior is easier.

Researchers studying the greening of school grounds in Belgium and the Netherlands, countries with historically stellar educational systems. It  followed children over two years and found improvements in selective attention and prosocial behavior as schoolyards became greener and more biodiverse. Perhaps that should not surprise us.

A child who is less overstimulated may have more capacity for self-control. A child who has somewhere peaceful to reset may return to class ready to learn. A child who has room to move and opportunities to interact in different ways may have more successful social experiences.

Quiet Matters, Too

There is another feature of Foothill that visitors sometimes notice only after they have been here awhile: the relative absence of institutional noise.

There are no enclosed hallways filled with hundreds of students changing classes. Children move through open air. Lunch is eaten outside at picnic tables beneath trees rather than in a large cafeteria. Again, this is more than atmosphere.

Research on school-age children has repeatedly found that noise can interfere with speech perception, listening comprehension, memory and reading. Children are particularly vulnerable because many of the cognitive processes adults perform automatically still require substantial attention for them.

This does not mean children need silence. Playgrounds should sound like playgrounds .There is a difference between the joyful noise of children playing and the continuous background noise a brain must work to filter out all day.

Square Footage Isn’t the Whole Story

This may be why assessing a school by classroom size alone misses something important.

A very large classroom can look impressive on a floor plan. But children experience more than square footage. They experience sound and light. Trees and concrete. Crowded transitions or leisurely ones. Places to move and places to pause. What they see through a window. What they hear during lunch. Whether the outside world feels accessible or distant.

At Foothill, classes frequently move outdoors. Children eat beneath trees. They cross lawns and pathways throughout their day. Our youngest students actively plant  gardens and  encounter hills and ponds as ordinary features of school rather than occasional destinations for a field trip.
Mike Silva, Head of School states, “Foothill’s campus gives physical form and function to its mission as a safe, nurturing, and inclusive community.  Common spaces flow naturally from the classrooms and other structures to foster and sustain communal learning and inspire spontaneous gathering and interaction among students and teachers and promote an egalitarian, welcoming spirit. The curve and wind of campus pathways convey softness and warmth and encourage a slower pace and engagement with the physical environment. Learning spaces feature natural light and renewable materials, and prioritize collaboration, individual attention, and flexibility.  Green spaces are abundant for play, gathering, reflecting, and taking in the beauty of the outdoors.  The campus serves as the location for a virtuous learning neighborhood, welcoming and egalitarian in spirit; a physical place where children feel a sense of security and connection to others.” 

Our campus was not created as a laboratory for environmental psychology. Much of it simply grew that way over more than 70 years. But perhaps generations of Foothill students have been benefiting from something we are only beginning to understand scientifically.

When You Tour a School, Pay Attention to How It Feels

Parents should absolutely ask about reading instruction, mathematics, teacher qualifications, class size, technology and high school preparation.

But how does it feel? Watch children moving around the campus. Listen to the sound level. Notice where they eat, where they play and what surrounds them between lessons. Look for places where a child can be energetic and places where a child can regroup.

Education happens  during lunch beneath a tree. On the walk from science to art. Beside a pond. On a lawn with a clipboard. During the five minutes after something difficult has happened and a child needs to reset before trying again.

The campus is not simply the backdrop to a child’s education. It is part of the education.