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Eat sustainably, choose school meals!

• Check out the Earth Week section of the .
• The Nacho Average Food Truck is showcasing local meat, eggs, grains, fruit and vegetables this spring as it visits AISD high schools! Check out our new menu: •
• We have saved $316,450 in non-food items by serving meals directly on the tray, utilizing self-service for the students, and reducing non-food inventory items!
• Did you know that all 115 of AISD cafes receive monthly sustainability training?  Lessons are related to the work done around composting, share tables, energy efficiency, self-serve initiatives, and meal planning to prevent food waste.
• We encourage students to eat local at school! Our menus regularly feature Texas grown and produced foods, including the following:
  • Bread, Buns, Rolls • The New World Bakery - Kyle, TX
  • Crispy Taco Shells • Mrs. Rios Corn Products - San Angelo, TX
  • Honey • Stroope Farms - Pearland, TX 
  • Milk • Blue Bonnet & Blue Jay Dairy - Dublin, TX; Sherwyn Wood Dairy - Stephenville, TX; Oak Farms Dairy - San Antonio, TX 
  • Pizza • Alpha Food Co. - Waller, TX
  • Tamales • Padrino Foods - Irving, TX
  • Tortillas & Tortilla Chips • Fiesta Tortillas - Austin, TX
  • Vegetables • Fredericksburg Peach Co. - Spicewood, TX  

Enter into the Earth Art competition!

Get outside and get creative with “earth art” for a chance to win prizes! Gather natural objects (leaves, rocks, flowers, etc.), create a work of art, capture a photo of your creation, and submit it for a chance to win prizes. on Earth Art from AISD Outdoor Learning Specialist Colleen Garland, follow these for the theme, criteria, submission link, and more information. Submissions are due May 1, winners will be announced May 8th! 

Schoolyard Bioblitz! 

Take time to get outside for brain breaks with a BioBlitz!  You can participate in a variety of ways to help inventory nature:

1. Using Seek , students go out and track every organism they can on their campus, 
2. Participate in the , 
3. Get students outside looking for bugs, worms, and weeds, then have them sketch what they've found and/or look them up in picture books or field guides. Learning to sketch an animal or plant is a great way to sharpen observation skills and really get to know an organism, OR 
4. Use the bingo card for PK-2nd instead of iNaturalist or sketching exercises: ‌  

Make sure to connect the BioBlitz & National Wildlife Federation Eco-Schools US action cards, like the Macroinvertebrate Surveying, Species Diversity, and Create School Field Guides, for example.

You can read more details on how to participate using this link:  
SEE YOU OUTSIDE!!
 

Access Your PEAS’ Digital Outdoor Learning Lessons

AISD elementary teachers have access to a library of 32 TEKS aligned outdoor education activities that are "Easy PEASy" to use! Just play the short video, and then take your students outside to complete the exploration!

To access your account, visit this and use the following credentials to log in:

• Click on Log In on the PEAS website header.
• Username: aisd@peascommunity.org Password: AISD2026 

(This access is good through May 2026)

Display your Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights Poster!

Read the Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights and print your own copy for your classroom in and . Research shows children who learn and play in nature are healthier, happier and perform better in school. Austin ISD leaders signed the pledge to support the , which was passed by the City Council in 2017.

Become a Green School Park!

Any school campus within Austin ISD has the opportunity to to be a and receive the official designation. AISD currently has 19 Green School Park campuses (). The is a partnership between AISD and The City of Austin Parks & Recreation Department. It aims to ensure every schoolyard creates access to nature and fosters play and learning outdoors for all. 

Nominate a Garden Superstar & Get Resources for Greening Your Schoolyard

The website, led by the Central Texas School Garden Network, invites school administrators, educators, and parents to explore how to bring green features to your campus. Visit the site to learn about creating and maintaining food gardens, ponds, chickens, and more on your school grounds. Want to go one step further? to help support educators throughout our area.

Visitors to the site can also nominate a school garden superstar for the . The FiG Award is presented annually to a school garden volunteer who consistently goes above and beyond to care for their school’s garden. ! The recipient will be announced during Earth Week.

Request Speaker from City of Austin's Urban Forest Program

Request the City of Austin’s Urban Forest Program to speak with your classroom or after-school club! Choose from a range of topics that promote the significance of trees in public spaces and foster environmental stewardship, such as Mindfulness in Nature, Tree ID Tour, Urban Forestry Discovery, and much more! Submit and the Think Trees team will be in touch!  

Communicate the benefits of green schoolyards

Check out these and learn how green schoolyards can promote physical activity, provide mental health benefits, improve academic outcomes, encourage beneficial play, about the benefits of green schoolyards.

Start a Schoolyard Habitat at your school

To help reconnect today's children to the outdoors, the National Wildlife Federation assists schools in developing outdoor classrooms called , where educators and students learn how to attract and support local wildlife. Learn how to design, build, certify, and use your Schoolyard Habitat with this from the National Wildlife Federation. 

Become a Tree Campus!

recognizes schools that lead the way in tree stewardship. When you make trees part of your curriculum and your campus, you make your school a better place to learn and live. Become one of the first K-12 schools in Austin to receive this designation! Take the to become a tree campus. 

Lights out for birds!

Protect our migrating birds by turning off all non-essential lights at night from March 1 - June 15, especially during the peak migration period of April 22 (Earth Day!) - May 12. Be on the lookout for hundreds of millions of birds migrating through our state on their way north from their southern wintering grounds. Learn more about and follow our birds on the , or check out their . 

Tree Folks Activities

Get involved by volunteering! is a local forestry non-profit with a mission to empower Central Texas to build stronger communities through planting and caring for trees. Volunteer opportunities include: 

• Tree Care at Graham Elementary (Saturday, April 11th).
• Tree Care at TA Brown Elementary (Saturday, April 18th).
• Tree Care at Norman- Sims Elementary (Saturday, April 25th). 

Become a Roots & Wings Festival Event Host!

Riding the wave of Earth Day festivities, the 9th annual Roots & Wings Festival occurs this fall, 10/17 through 11/1! Does your school want to host a special event to celebrate trees, bees, butterflies or many other beautiful expressions of nature? City of Austin mini-grants are available to help fund it, along with resources and information to assist your school committee every step of the way! The application deadline is August 1st. For more information and to receive the event calendar in October, !