Stumbling Though the Steps

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed.  I really like my project, and I have all the faith in the world that it is going to be not only enjoyable for me, but will be such a benefit to my campus when it is complete, but man oh man, creating the actual "plan" is a bugger!  Since my project revolves around data we don't even really have yet, and is going to focus mostly on how our campus is going to accomplish the building and use of this garden, I found it incredibly hard to write this plan out with dates, steps, evaluations, etc...  I have a feeling this project is going to continuously change throughout its entirity and I may be revising my question quite a bit to fit the needs of the project as it evolves. Anyone else out there wondering if your plan makes any sense?  I think I'm curious to see how this is all going to work out.

Let me know. I'm feeling the need for input!

Action Planning Template
Goal:  I will be able to determine and successfully meet our campus need for experiential learning through the development and use of a working school garden.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Meet with Campus Leadership Team to review Campus Improvement Plan to determine if there is a need for experiential learning to meet the needs of our students in Science and to meet the district initiative for “The Learner of the Future” Review existing and collected data on start-up	Alissa D’Amore, Christine Brunner, campus principal Campus Leadership Team	October 25, 2012-October 29, 2012 August 2012-October 2012	Campus Improvement Plan, Highland Park ISD research, data and Profile for the Learner of the Future	Determination of need for experiential learning based on review of CIP, collaboration of CLT during meeting, and group agreement to further look into the development of the project.
Create a Garden Committee, made up of my self, PTA President, principal and additional various campus and parent representatives to head the development of the school garden.	Alissa D’Amore, Christine Brunner (principal), Caroline Williams (PTA President)	October 2012- December 2012	Survey, description of plan for garden	We will use surveys, grade level meetings, staff meetings and parent meetings to discuss the purpose of our committee and to recruit members from all grade levels and parent groups.
Research possibilities for using outside agencies to assist in development of the garden.  Research at least 2 local options for comparison.	Alissa D’Amore, Caroline Williams (PTA President), Christine Brunner (principal)	October 2012-December 2012	Pamphlets or online information describing services provided by non-profit school garden groups, and determination of timeframe, cost, and staff/parent involvement in start-up of garden.	Committee will research the obtained information in order to make the decision of whether this is the direction we want to go.  Findings will be brought to faculty and to parent groups for approval (PTA, Dad’s Club)
Research cost of designing and building the garden if we decide to build on our own without the assistance of a specialized non-profit group.	Alissa D’Amore, Caroline Williams (PTA President), Christine Brunner (principal)	October 2012-December 2012	Price quotes from developers, garden shops, and home improvement stores for the cost of materials and procedures to begin development of garden.	Use various quotes to compare with research done on agency quotes to determine best route to take in moving forward with garden.  Gain approval from committee members, principal, Campus Leadership Team and parent groups.  Develop projected plan to present to parent groups in order to go forward with plans for funding the project.
Research exact type of campus need for hands-on learning through the use of grade level surveys of teachers, students and science lab teacher.  Also use input from randomly selected grade-level parents.	Alissa D’Amore, Garden Committee, Campus Leadership Team	October 2012- May 2013	Surveys and interviews  (parent, student, staff), STAR data, benchmark scores, MAPS testing, CIP, TEKS	Take data compiled from surveys, testing, and interviews to base need for garden and what we will be using it for.  Compare possible teaching objectives linked to using the garden to campus needs areas and work into design, curriculum planning, and final proposal.
Develop Plan for School Garden with proposal, including cost	Garden Committee	October 2012-January 2013	Findings from interviews with similar campuses, organizations and professionals, research of costs and plans, including use of school garden from multiple schools and districts	A proposal will be created by our garden Committee to be presented to faculty and parent groups for approval and/or revision.  If the proposal is accepted and decided upon as an action plan, we will take the next steps to ensure implementation.
Find sources for funding	Garden Committee, PTA, Dad’s Club	October 2012-May 2013 Ongoing	Garden Plan Proposal, cost analysis, timeframe for implementation, list of possible funding sources for start-up.  Comparison reports for using an organization to assist us and going on our own.  Research on cost related to upkeep of garden for continuous use.	Research possibilities for funding on campus and within the Highland park Community. Meet with campus parent organizations to present plan proposal with projected cost.
Pros/Cons Comparison of developing and using a school garden with local schools who have already completed the project in the last 5 years	Alissa D’Amore	November 2012- February 2013	Research local schools who have utilized the services of Real School Gardens or have independently built gardens on their campuses.  Write up data for presentation to Garden Committee and Leadership Team	Interview campus staff who are closely related to the project, and gain insight into pros/cons of using Real School Gardens, compare to going independently.  Use interviews to compile data on campus use of gardens, cost for upkeep, lesson planning, and gaining staff and community buy-in in order to write it inot our own presentation to funding committee, faculty, PTA  and Campus Leadership Team
Assess campus for location and size of garden	Garden Committee, Outside organization specialized in landscape design	November 2012-February 2013	Draft Proposal for garden, soil study, light study, needs assessment for hands-on learning	Use assessment of outside agency or professional in garden design to find location on campus to best fit the needs of our project. Look into soil, water source, light.  Use assessment to work into Final Proposal to use with resource planning. Meet with campus leadership and parent groups at a monthly meeting to gain approval to proceed with project.
Gain City Permit to build on property	Garden Committee, HPISD	December 2012-May 2013	Research for Garden Proposal, Garden Proposal, research from garden professionals related to structures, digging, etc… related to building of garden.	Work with City of Highland Park to gain approval for building the garden on our campus.  Make any needed revisions to plan proposal.  Take findings to parent groups and campus leadership to approve changes if necessary and fund permit.
Science Benchmarks or Informal Assessments to determine areas of learning need for 3rd and 4th grade students, first administration	Alissa D’Amore, Christine Brunner, 3rd grade teachers, 4th grade teachers, science lab teacher	January 2013-February 2013	Benchmark data from fall 2012, informal needs assessments, 2012 STAR scores for Math and Reading (3rd and 4th), 2012 STAR Science scores for 5th grade students	Review assessments to better pinpoint areas of need to focus on when determining the type of garden to build, how we are going to tie it to curriculum.  Will look at last years district Science test scores to find specific STAR areas where we will need to focus hands-on Science Learning for our students currently in 3rd and 4th grade.
Review of 2012/2013 STAR data	Alissa D’Amore, Christine Brunner, Garden Committee, Campus Leadership team	May 2013-September 2013	STAR Science test results for 2013 administration for HPISD 5th grade.  Compare to 2012 results.	Use last year and current year STAR test data for former Bradfield students to find any areas where the students failed to progress.  Use data to assist campus development of curriculum and lesson planning to align with the use of the school garden.  Bring plan for use to campus committees involved with approval of garden and funding.  Present to staff for approval
Staff Development for Garden Committee	Professional gardening group, Alissa D’Amore, Garden Committee, Christine Brunner	March 2013- May 2013	Training materials based on development of a working school garden	Staff Development will be provided to Garden Committee in order to train on planning, development and use of school garden.  Following training by professional group, Garden Committee will present to faculty and parent groups in order to establish support and inform on steps needed to get underway with project.
Staff Development for Faculty and Parent Volunteers	Professional garden group, Garden Committee,  Christine Brunner	April 2013-June 2013	Training materials, campus proposal for garden	Professionals will conduct workshop with all campus faculty and parent group leaders in order to train them on what the garden will look like, basic gardening information, how to use the garden materials when they are installed, and what is involved with the daily use and upkeep.  Surveys will be conducted following the training to address any additional staff development for staff necessary to the understanding of the use of the garden with students.
Break Ground on Garden Project	Garden Committee, Christine Brunner, Parent Groups, Community volunteers, Faculty and staff, students	May 2013-September 2013	Completed and accepted Garden Proposal, Blueprints for building Garden, financial support, building materials	After obtaining support from school district, parents, and community volunteers and businesses, a day will be set aside to construct the garden on our campus.  All members on site will assist in construction of all structures and installation of plants, water sources, ornamental structures, etc… .  Following the installation, surveys will be conducted to assess the process from beginning to end (given to random members of every group, 20 surveys) to determine success of project from idea to implementation.  An additional survey will be given to teachers to gain insight into how they are planning to use the garden with their classroom instruction in ways other than Science in order to improve student learning across curriculums.
Review Science STAR data 2013/2014	Alissa D’Amore	May 2014-September 2014	Science STAR results and break down of test data for our former 4th grade students who took the 5th grade Science test at the Intermediate School	Review STAR data of former Bradfield students for 5th grade.  This data should be after one school year of having the garden on our campus to be used for experiential learning in Science.  Look at pass rate and commended rates of these students compared to the scores of the previous two administrations of the STAR test to former Bradfield students in order to determine the possible effect of having the garden and how it affected the scores of our former students