THE VILLA TREEHOUSE

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“Villa is committed to

creating a seamless,

whole-child curriculum

that moves between

outdoor and indoor

learning experiences

with full utilization of our

unique campus learning

spaces.

Villa Outdoor Education Committee

Where We’ve Been, Where We’re GoingDear Villa Community,

Our school offers its students something no other school can: a magnificent campus that abounds with whole-child learning opportunities. Your generosity for the 2014 auction fund-a-need, “Working Our Way to the Water,” was the beginning of our journey to maximize our campus, one of our most valuable assets.

For the last two years, our community has joined together with experts to weed, plant, build, rebuild, and, most importantly, to explore the possibilities of outdoor learning.

But we’re excited to tell you where we’re going! The focus of this year’s auction fund-a-need is the next chapter: “Working Our Way to the Water II.” Your generosity will enable us to build The Villa Treehouse. It’s the next step in creating a seamless whole-child curriculum for your children.

Sincerely,

John Milroy

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Fr. Stephen Okumu, John Milroy, and Jody Elsner at Dedication Ceremony for the rebuilt Villa Grotto

March 2014 - Fund-a-Need Success Our generous community gave over $175,000 to fund this important initiative.

August 2014 - Professional Development Villa’s entire faculty and staff attended an outdoor education workshop at the Island Wood Outdoor Education Center on Bainbridge Island.

Fall 2014 & Ongoing - EarthCorps Days Students worked with their buddies and EarthCorps volunteers to remove invasive plants and plant native species.

February 2015 - Outdoor Education UW’s Department of Landscape Architecture team led faculty, staff, and student discussions on how to further incorporate outdoor education within our various curricula.

Spring 2015 - Garden and Greenhouse Students and their buddies helped re-design and re-plant the school garden adjacent to the new greenhouse.

May 2015 - Restoration Day Over a hundred parent, student, faculty, and staff volunteers created garden paths, built trellises for the garden, weeded native plant areas, and refurbished and built upper woodland trails.

May 2015 - Historic Grotto Rebuilt 20 stonemasons rebuilt our historic grotto, refining their skills in the art and craft of dry stonewalling with the assistance of world-renowned dry stone masons Andrew Loudon of London, England and Dean McClellan of Toronto, Canada.

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““Climbing up into a tree

calms us. Our heart rates

actually drop when we

get up into trees.

Pete Nelson, Treehouse Masters

““The treehouse tells

a story as old as

architecture, or perhaps

more clearly, as old as

human shelters...To be

protected, to escape,

and today to find peace

and proximity to nature...

Philip Jodidio, Art Historian and Author (Tree Houses: Fairy Tale Castles in the Air)

Why a Treehouse?In 2015, the UW Dept of Landscape Design worked with Villa students, faculty, and staff in development of an outdoor learning roadmap—an approach that builds on existing curriculum to enhance our children’s learning experiences.

Part of the approach is to “Challenge the Walls.” Villa faculty already utilize a wide array of teaching techniques and, with the richness of our school’s outdoor environment, it is a logical extension to promote learning beyond the confines of a traditional classroom.

Some principles of our “Challenge the Walls” approach include:

• Learning takes place on-site on the school grounds

• Learning focuses on local themes, systems, and content

• Learning is personally relevant to the student

• Learning is interdisciplinary and tailored to the age/abilities of students

• Learning is grounded in and supports the development of a love of one’s place

• Learning serves as a foundation for understanding global and regional issues

As the UW specialists gathered input from Villa students, it emerged that a treehouse was their most highly desired feature...”accessible from the ground level with a formalized overlook and gathering space to take advantage of views of Mt Rainier and Lake Washington.” Clearly, a treehouse is personally relevant to our students!

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““In childhood, treehouses hold sway over the

imagination. They provide shelter but also a respite

from an adult-sized world. They give kids a vantage

point from which to see the world as it appears

sometimes in dreams.

MYOO.com Design/Green Architecture

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2015 Villa Outdoor Learning Initiative Plan

KIDS THRIVE AND LEARN IN

THE OUTDOORS

PROJECT-BASEDLEARNING

STUDENTINPUT

UW EXPERTS

WE LOVE OUR CAMPUS

OUTDOORCLASSROOM

COOLNESSFACTOR

OBSERVATIONPOST

LONG-TERMPLAN

Villa students are working on design input incorporating math, science, and imagination! They’ll

present concepts to University of Washington outdoor learning

experts.

Our campus is a unique asset and we plan to make the most of it to facilitate learning! Plus,

treehouse = cool!

Recent research shows that time spent outdoors makes for better

students! Our treehouse will provide a new platform for a new

perspective on learning.

The Villa Treehouse: Deconstructed

KIDS THRIVE AND LEARN IN

THE OUTDOORS

OUTDOORCLASSROOM OBSERVATION

POST

“Richard Louv, Author (Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder)

Passion is lifted from the earth itself by the muddy

hands of the young; it travels along grass-stained

sleeves to the heart. If we are going to save

environmentalism and the environment, we must

also save an endangered indicator species: the

child in nature.

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Villa 3rd and 6th grade buddies tend the school garden

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sSupports multiple development domains. Nature is important to children’s development in every major way—intellectually, emotionally, socially, spiritually, and physically (Kellert, 2005).

Supports creativity and problem solving. Children engage in more creative forms of play in the green areas of schoolyards. They also play more cooperatively (Bell and Dyment, 2006). Play in nature is especially important for developing capacities for creativity and problem-solving (Kellert, 2005).

Enhances cognitive abilities. Proximity to, views of, and daily exposure to natural settings increase children’s ability to focus and enhances cognitive abilities (Wells, 2000).

Improves academic performance. Schools that use outdoor classrooms and other forms of nature-based experiential education support significant student gains in social studies, science, language arts, and math (American Institutes for Research, 2005).

Reduces Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) symptoms. Contact with the natural world can significantly reduce symptoms of attention deficit disorder in children as young as five years old (Kuo and Taylor, 2004).

Daily Contact with Nature: Positive Impacts on Children

Increases physical activity. Children who have school grounds with diverse natural settings are more physically active (Bell and Dyment, 2006).

Improves nutrition. Children who grow their own food are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables (Bell & Dyment, 2008) and to show higher levels of knowledge about nutrition (Waliczek, & Zajicek, 2006). The healthy eating habits continue throughout their lives (Morris & Zidenberg-Cherr, 2002).

Improves eyesight. More time spent outdoors is related to reduced rates of nearsightedness (myopia) in children and adolescents (American Academy of Ophthalmology, 2011).

Improves social relations. Children are happier and better able to get along with others when they have regular opportunities for free and unstructured play in the out-of-doors (Burdette and Whitaker, 2005).

Improves self-discipline. Access to green spaces, and even a view of green settings, enhances peace, self control, and self-discipline (Taylor, Kuo and Sullivan, 2001).

Reduces stress. Green plants and vistas reduce stress among highly- stressed children, especially in locations with more plants, greener views, and access to natural play areas (Wells and Evans, 2003).

Excerpted from Benefits of Connecting Children with Nature InfoSheet produced by the Natural Learning Initiative at the NC State University College of Design. Referenced studies available at the Children and Nature Network website www.childrenandnature.org/research/.

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Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010

Most American children today spend their

summers staying indoors, glued to television

screens and video games, and rarely ever venture

outside. Studies now show that the average

American child, age 8 to 18, spends nearly eight

hours per day, year round, indoors, looking at

electronic screens.

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Villa P5 students release butterflies into the school garden

PROJECT-BASEDLEARNING

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The Treehouse is truly a new platform for learning—both physically and metaphorically. It will serve academics in a variety of ways!

“When children move into a new place to learn,

outside of the classroom, they are able to become a

different kind of student. They no longer sit in rows

looking at a board and teacher, taking in information

as they have done year after year. Suddenly, there

is a new kind of learning happening. There is space

for students to become involved. And they do. They

take charge of their own learning, ask questions,

manipulate their environment, investigate, and

strive to understand. They are no longer passive in

their learning. They are in control of it.”

Villa Outdoor Education Committee, Treehouse Relevance to STEAM and Project-Based Learning

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ing From the Faculty: How a

Treehouse Supports StudentsNew Perspectives“How thrilling will it be to go ‘up’ into a classroom? How truly wonderful will the children feel overlooking the trees? Who wouldn’t want to learn perched in the treetops? It’s a way to unlock the imagination. When you change a child’s perspective, really change that perspective, you broaden their world just a little more.”

Whole Child/Whole Learning Outcomes“The quality of learning outside is different. It’s a shame to try to understand it with graphs, bottom lines, and estimates. We should be studying the whole learning outcome. If you could see the awakened curiosity, the joy and health in their faces, and hear the thoughtfulness in their ideas, you might realize you’ve been asking the wrong questions about children learning out of doors.”

The Value of Silence“True silence in the classroom is tremendously hard to generate. There is always the scratching of pencils on paper, the noise of the playground, the sounds of children passing in the stairwells, the media in the room next door. Yet, to reflect deeply, nothing is more necessary than quiet. It is needed when one wants to disappear into a book, record thoughts and ideas on paper, or reflect. It can be found in the outdoors quite easily.”

Movement Matters

“Children who need to move, those who fidget when they sit in blue plastic chairs for too long, find great comfort sitting under leaves and the open sky.”

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There are many ways a treehouse can serve as a platform for learning. Here are a few examples:

• In-field geometry and mathematics, exploring field-based measurements in height and angles

• A space for small performances and creative, social play that sparks imaginations (like playing house or adventure stories)

• Writing a story of Villa’s history from a tree’s point of view or sketching the landscape from a bird’s eye view

• Promoting adventure and the wonder of possibility. Reading to children in a tree house, especially a story of bravery and overcoming odds

• Villa as a bird sanctuary: identification, biology, and habitat. Students participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count. Ongoing tallies recorded in treehouse classroom. Keep multi-year data as part of a longitudinal study of our environment

• Tree identification, biology, species mapping, and native vs. invasive species

• From our local “habitat” in the tree house, look outward to examine the habitat of the greater region and implications around history/economy/transportation

• A peaceful, quiet place for religion, meditation, and prayer time

• A home base to create outdoor art and site-specific land art sculptures using natural materials (like British sculptor Andy Goldworthy)

A Platform for Learning

““We want to do EVERYTHING

in a treehouse! Every single

day!

Villa 4th Grade Students

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“As children observe,

reflect, record, and

share nature’s patterns

and rhythms, they

are participating in a

process that promotes

scientific and ecological

awareness, problem

solving, and creativity.

Deb Matthews Hensley

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At the heart of Villa’s STEAM initiative is Project Based Learning. It’s not merely “doing projects.” It’s a way of educating children that sees them as investigators who explore difficult questions and critical thinkers who learn to make connections across subject areas.

As mentioned earlier, the idea for a Villa Treehouse came from our students in a campus-visioning process with the University of Washington. Our proposed treehouse became a launching point for a special focus in the 7th grade, where students:

• learned about the biology of tree growth

• explored the dynamics of how structures—a tree and a building—work together

• learned about the considerations involved in choosing appropriate trees and siting a treehouse

• gave their input for what elements were desired in a treehouse

• designed and created their own treehouses, as seen on the following pages

Our Proposed Treehouse: A Real-World Example of Project Based Learning

Arborist Scott Baker with students at the treehouse site

7th Grade: The Treehouse from A to ZObjective: Students will be able to design and create a treehouse to scale, gaining real world knowledge of the importance of math, learning how math is applied in architecture, be able to use and understand scale factor and circles, and increase their group collaboration, critical-thinking, and problem-solving skills.

Learning Standards covered:• CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.G.A.1

Solve problems involving scale drawings of geometric figures, including computing actual lengths and areas from a scale drawing and reproducing a scale drawing at a different scale.

• CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.8.G.A Understand congruence and similarity using physical models, transparencies, or geometry software.

• CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP5 Use appropriate tools strategically.

• CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP1 Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

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Students with Jason Medeiros from UW working on treehouse planning

Students measuring one of the trees chosen to support the treehouse

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Treehouse Guides

Coming up with plans

for a treehouse that can

actually be built requires

an active imagination and

problem solving skills

that extend beyond the

treehouse to other areas

of life.

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Wednesday, Jan. 27: Project introduced Students hear about the project and meet with Villa arborist Scott Baker, treehouse expert Bubba Smith, and their teachers. They examine the treehouse site and learn more about what conditions make certain trees appropriate for treehouses.

Monday, Feb. 1 - Tuesday, Feb. 2: Brainstorming Students gather into groups and begin brainstorming. Students are sent a set of links with ideas. Students must complete a project proposal, a scale factor graphic organizer, and a sketch.

Wednesday, Feb. 3 - Friday, Feb. 5: Creating Blueprints Students create blueprints (using software, paper, or both) for the footprint of their treehouses and for the inside design.

Monday, Feb. 8 - Friday, Feb. 26: Building the Structures Students work on creating the structure to scale. Making sure to measure along the way to ensure that their project is the appropriate size. Daily log completed.

Monday, Feb. 29 - Wednesday, March 2: Preparing Presentations

Thursday, March 3: Final Presentations Presentations to demonstrate mastery of process, design, and construction.

Villa teachers, Erin Flotte, Roger Crafts, and Lindsay Kapek, designed the 7th grade Treehouse Project

The perspective of a treehouse will help students

see the world in a new way and inspire them to

record what they see more creatively. It can turn

off the part of our mind that says,”You know what

that is...you have already named it, so just draw a

stick, and six slanted lines coming down from the

top, then you will have a nice tree.” Brain shortcuts

can stifle creativity, and learning to work around

them has many applications in the 21st Century

world.

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Kathy Simons, Villa Art Teacher

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WE LOVE OUR CAMPUS

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Not a day seems to go by without another newspaper article, online feature, or TV segment about the growing importance of Outdoor Education. Villa has a unique opportunity to leverage our amazing campus resources in support of the whole child—and become a leader in this arena.

Not only will the Villa Treehouse be a great companion in our students’ learning, it increases our school’s Awesome Factor for prospective families.

Making the Most of Our Campus

New York Times article featuring a Bellevue preschool that travels to the UW Botanic Gardens regularly to spend time outdoors. Villa students are lucky: nature is abundant right on our own

school grounds!

““Villa P5 Student

I think it should be crazy

big so we have lots of room

and we are not squishy.

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e Treehouse Specifics What will our treehouse look like, exactly?

Well, that is a work in progress...great progress, we might add. We aren’t doing this the easy way with a prefab plan. It’s been an organic process with our students suggesting all kinds of things:

• Shape: Many kids favor hexagons, or—reducing a side—having a “stop sign” shape, as preschoolers call it

• Levels: There were many suggestions for two sections of the treehouse, one higher than the other

• Safety: We want all ages of Villa students to access the treehouse

• Accoutrements: Everyone wants bean bag chairs!

Blueprint for a treehouse model by Villa 7th grader

Treehouse Specifics ContinuedWhat Will it Cost? What we can ultimately build depends on our Fund-a-Need donors. Our goal is to raise $100,000. That will get us our treehouse, but if we can stretch to $150,000, we meet the UW’s guidelines for additional design flexibility.

The Site The area proposed for the structure is at the edge of the upper property to the north of the recently rebuilt Villa Grotto. The site slopes from west to the east and the land is vegetated down to Lake Washington.

The Trees Supporting the Structure The two trees selected to support the structure are both Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) trees. This is a long-lived, native conifer species that is relatively decay resistant and an excellent choice for a tree-supported structure. The structure would also be supported by posts where appropriate. The sloped site is ideal, as it will allow an easy entry that could meet ADA-accessibility requirements and be well above grade, giving it the treehouse feel.

Design Team:• David Geisen, Wild Tree Woodworks, LLC• Bubba Smith, Treehouse Workshop• Scott Baker, Tree Solutions, Inc• Ryan Erickson, Villa Facilities Director• Architect selection in process

The Design Team and our UW outdoor experts will attend the 7th grade treehouse design presentations the week of March 1.

Design Considerations:• Plan for ADA-compliant access using the slope• Plan the building to control access when the

classroom is not in use• Plan ahead for vegetation management in the area of the project • Build the structure with an over-built roof and an easily-repaired roofing product

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Reading RecommendationsVisit VikingNET for more reading recommendations and links to online resources.

Online ResourcesChildren and Nature.org - links to dozens of studies http://www.childrenandnature.org/research/

National Wildlife Foundation’s Nature Play & Learning Places downloadable PDF https://www.nwf.org/What-We-Do/Kids-and-Nature/Programs/Nature-Play-Spaces-Guide.

aspx

Mental Health & Function at Green Cities: Good Health University of Washington, College of the Environment http://depts.washington.edu/hhwb/Thm_Mental.html

BooksJodidio, Philip. Tree Houses: Fairy Tale Castles in the Air

Louv, Richard. Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder

Nelson, Pete. Be in a Treehouse: Design / Construction / Inspiration

Books for ChildrenCole, Rachel Elizabeth. Kids in the Tree House series (beginning chapter books)

Griffiths, Andy. The 13-Story Treehouse (grades 3 - 5)

London, Jonathan. Froggy Builds a Tree House (PreK - grade 1)

Osborne, Mary Pope. The Magic Treehouse series (grades 3 - 7)

Stiles, David. How to Build Treehouses, Huts and Forts (grades 7 and up)

Developed by the Villa Advancement Office ©2016 | VILLA ACADEMY | www.thevilla.org