Nestled in the Fort Hill neighborhood within the heart of Roxbury lies the quaint Nathan Hale Elementary School. If you make your way past the vibrant gates and grand wall mural to wind around the back of the historic school building, you will discover something new this year - their own school garden.

Students bring out their curiosity in full force at our CitySprouts gardens, and they are often using it to look for one thing: answers. However, in the garden, answers are the one thing I usually try not to give my students.

Beyond creating outdoor classrooms within elementary school grounds across Cambridge and Boston public schools, CitySprouts also extends the opportunity for middle-school aged youth to continue exploring science outside.

Through these rainy and chilly autumn days, garden educators have been teaching students the evolutionary advantages of seeds and the importance of compost and insects in nourishing our school gardens.

Returning to school means returning to the garden for thousands of Cambridge and Boston-area youth. After the last two years of unpredictability, school gardens have proven to be dependable safe spaces for children to freely explore both the natural world and themselves.