Committee reviews K–12 garden plan, volunteers and $9,000 fence need for pre-K area

The Rockport School Committee reviewed a multi-location gardens project coordinated with the Rockport Garden Club and school staff that will create a pollinator garden outside the superintendent's office and raised-bed vegetable beds on the former pre-K playground. Mary Morby of the Garden Club and other volunteers have donated tubers, raised beds and fencing material; a Town Green sustainability grant will fund mulch and soil, and DPW will relocate water access and remove old storage containers to make room for the beds.

Superintendent Mark Branko and others described curricular links across K–12, from science and engineering activities to social-emotional learning, and said the Garden Club will maintain the gardens on a volunteer rotation through the summer. The committee identified the immediate budget need as replacement fencing outside the pre-K area, estimated at roughly $9,000; staff said they will explore grant options and wellness-advisory-board funds to cover that cost. Branko noted volunteers and staff will plant and maintain beds and that the gardens will be integrated into instruction and student work.