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Cedar RootsCommunity School

Community connections

Open beyond the bell

Cedar Roots is designed as a hub for the whole community — a place where learning continues after school, in the evenings and on weekends.

A community school

The school belongs to its neighbourhood

Schools are some of the most valuable public buildings a community has, yet many sit empty for much of the day and year. Cedar Roots imagines something different: a building whose gym, garden, studios and learning commons are planned from the start for shared community use.

For students, community connections build belonging, responsibility and real-world skills. For the community, the school becomes a place to gather, learn and contribute.

Proposed possibilities

What community connection could look like

  • Community garden participation

    Garden plots shared between students and neighbours, with seasonal work days and harvest gatherings.

    Weekends & evenings

  • Intergenerational projects

    Students and older adults learning from each other — oral history interviews, tech help sessions, shared gardening and cooking.

    School day & after school

  • Youth mentoring

    Secondary students mentoring younger children, and adult mentors from the community supporting Cedar Roots students.

    After school

  • Community recreation

    The gym and fields open for drop-in sports, fitness classes and family recreation outside school hours.

    Evenings & weekends

  • Environmental volunteering

    Stewardship days where students, families and neighbours work together on clean-ups and restoration.

    Weekends

  • Elementary school partnerships

    Reading buddies, shared field days and smoother transitions for students moving into Grade 9.

    School day

  • Public workshops

    Evening sessions on topics like gardening, repair skills, digital safety and local ecology, sometimes taught by students.

    Evenings

  • Community arts and culture

    Concerts, gallery nights, theatre and cultural celebrations that bring families and neighbours into the school.

    Evenings & weekends

Beyond regular hours

From first bell to the weekend

A proposed picture of how the building could be used across a typical week.

  1. 8:30–3:30

    School day

    Classes, field studies, buddies and intergenerational visits

  2. 3:30–6:00

    After school

    Athletics, mentoring, homework club and garden crew

  3. 6:00–9:00

    Evenings

    Workshops, recreation, performances and meetings

  4. Seasonal

    Weekends

    Garden days, stewardship events and community celebrations

Building partnerships

How real partnerships would be built

Strong partnerships take time. If Cedar Roots moved forward, community programs would grow step by step.
  1. 1

    Listen first

    Ask local residents, families, organizations and Nations what they need and hope for — before proposing programs.

  2. 2

    Start small

    Pilot a few programs with clear goals, then learn from what works.

  3. 3

    Formalize carefully

    Put partnerships in writing with the school district, covering safety, facilities use, insurance and privacy.

  4. 4

    Share and review

    Report back to the community each year and adjust together.

Raised garden beds full of vegetables and flowers in a city community garden
An open grassy picnic area with a covered shelter, surrounded by tall trees