New York public school's rooftop 'eco-center' will reshape science curriculumThe classroom greenhouse at the P.S. 6 Eric Dutt Eco Center is used for classes in vertical gardening, hydroponics. Photo: Georgina Abella	
	      
		

New York Public School 6 (PS 6) on the upper east side of Manhattan has opened a new rooftop eco-center that has been four years in the making.
The facility, which includes an 800-square-foot greenhouse classroom, solar panels, a weather station, and a planting area, will be used to help reshape the science curriculum in the K-5 facility -- and (it is hoped) in other public schools across the city.
Marcia Sudolsky, a PS 6 parent and a co-chair of the planning committee that has spearheaded the project for the past four years, said the eco-center builds on the dream of Eric Dutt, a 34-year-old PS 6 science teacher who died unexpectedly in 2007 of a heart attack after a science field trip. His idea for a rooftop classroom had been a pet project for the school's future curriculum.
After Dutt's death, the parents, faculty and students nurtured that dream into something even bigger, even selling energy-efficient light bulbs to help raise the $1.7 million that was needed for the construction. The city of New York kicked in a significant amount of funding, with the hope that the school would serve as a model for others, much like New York's School of the Future.
Other features of the eco-center include a weather station, turtle pond and planting areas for each grade to grow flowers. Photo: Georgina Abella
We really thought it appropriate to expand into something that could be an entirely new curriculum, Sudolsky said. She said the project received strong support from the borough president.
The new Eric Dutt Eco Center spans the entire rooftop and the school's 850 students can learn about topics as varied as vertical gardening, hydroponics,  composting, solar energy and rainwater capture. Fifth-graders can participate in the school's garden to cafe program, growing tomatoes, zucchini, squash, blueberries and other produce that be used in the school's salad bar, Sudolsky said. A canopy-covered area can serve as an opportunity for miniature field trips, although it doesn't serve as a full-time classroom replacement. The idea is to use the rooftop for part of the curriculum in each grade, not to use it to replace a regular classroom in the school, which enrolls 850 students.
Among the more challenging aspects of the project: The facility itself and the roof needed to be reinforced to accommodate the weight of the greenhouse structure and solar panels.
This is not simply a green roof, it is an entire eco-center, she said.