Westerly Elementary has been named a National Wild School Site by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife (read their article about us).

Westerly has a courtyard that is maintained to maximize local wildlife habitats and to have projects for students to learn about and benefit from wildlife. Students also learn to respect the importance of maintaining wildlife habitats. (WKYC Channel 3 news did a story about us, too!)

Projects include: artificial and natural bird feeding stations, a fish pond shared with turtles, ducks, and blue herons, native host plants for butterflies and hummingbirds, and much more. Wildlife taking up residence, besides those already mentioned, includes squirrels, chipmunks, migratory birds, and a variety of reptiles and amphibians.

(Below: we grew some TALL sunflowers!

Our Wildlife Habitat in Westerly's courtyard:

Milkweed and milkweed beetles: