Courtyard Project Underway at Hilton Elementary

Class may be out, but has been filled with activity this summer as volunteers overhaul the school’s courtyards, turning the outdoor spaces into learning centers. 

Hilton Elementary School has three courtyards enclosed in the building; the courtyards are small, outdoor spaces surrounded by classrooms. One of the courtyards was overhauled last year, and volunteers took on the other two this summer. 

The designs were done by students at the Cuyahoga Community College. Mike Whitman, an instructor at the college, said he and a few students met with parents, administrators and elementary students to learn what they wanted to see. The college students learned about elementary curriculum and scaling ideas to the appropriate size. One of the courtyards will have a science theme and the other will have an art theme.

Principal David Martin said in an email that almost all the work has been done by parent volunteers. Some concrete work at the beginning of the project was contracted out as a district permanent improvement project. 

Karen Bazan, one of the parent volunteers, noted that other local groups have also helped out. For example, she said, Maple Crest Farms donated all the compost.

On Friday, there were a few parent volunteers—and their kids—sorting through plants, and some employees from Rossi Landscaping planting trees. Bazan said they had ordered 45 different kids of plants for the courtyards, many of them specialty.

The funds for the project were raised through donations or grants from individuals and local organizations, like the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District and the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Schools Foundation, Bazan said. The school also received a $5,000 grant from Lowe's. But most of the donations came from families.

"We couldn't have done it without them," she said.