Greater Newburgh Parks Conservancy Donates and Plants 27 Additional Shade Trees for Schools

The Greater Newburgh Parks Conservancy (Conservancy), in collaboration the Newburgh Enlarged City School District, NFA North Campus, and Gidney Ave Memorial School (GAMS), planted 27 additional shade trees at the NFA North and GAMS campuses that included:

• 6 Thornless Honey Locust

• 6 Northern Red Oak
  

• 5 Red Oak

• 5 Ginkgo Biloba
  

• 3 Yellowwood
  

• 2 Green Mountain Sugar Maple

The trees were planted during a warm week week in December. Teachers and students were invited to help mulch and prepare the trees for winter. Eventually, students and teachers will be invited to participate in opportunities to put up tree guards, tag the trees with information about each tree species, labeling the benefits they provide, and the care they need.

Each tree has been selected for hardiness in a harsh urban environment; to suit their specific location; to provide beauty through the year; and to provide essential environmental services, like pollution absorption and mitigation of extreme heat.  With good care, they should live for many decades, and we will continue working with the Conservancy to expand the tree canopy on our NFA North and GAMS campuses.

In April 2025, through a collaborative effort, we will begin a regular watering and care schedule to ensure the trees survive and thrive. Next spring, the Conservancy will be back to plant a food forest (fruit and nut trees) and native pollinator plots/wildflower meadows that we’ll design together in late winter. 

The Conservancy is committed to working with school principals Mr. Doddo and Mr. Glowacki, teachers, and students on educational sessions focused on environmental justice and ecological restoration, using the trees and meadows as outdoor classrooms. Our two campuses have tremendous potential to be developed over time into incredibly valuable outdoor teaching and learning spaces to engage younger and older students, Newburgh’s Environmental Justice Fellows, local urban forestry, landscaping and horticultural experts, and community partners like Land to Learn and Our Core. There are also opportunities to work with the P-TECH program to ensure that students learn hands-on about green infrastructure jobs.

This is the third in a series of generous donations to the District provided by The Greater Newburgh Parks Conservancy. In May 2023, the organization donated and planted 10 trees to South Middle School. The following fall, the Conservancy donated and planted 29 trees to NFA Main Campus.

ATTENTION: Are your scholars or colleagues doing something great? Please contact the district Communications Team at communications@necsd.net. We’d love to visit your class or event and/or post your pictures and recap to highlight the amazing accomplishments throughout our district!