Tarrytown School District Opens Peabody Preserve Outdoor Classroom

The following press release is from the Tarrytown Union Free School District and first appeared on its Facebook page:

The former home of a brick factory has morphed into an extension of the Tarrytown Union Free School District’s campus with the official opening of the Peabody Preserve Outdoor Classroom, Monday, Oct. 22.

A light rain, chirping and scampering wildlife and an autumn breeze through the plants and trees accompanied families, students, organizers and community and political leaders as they joined to cut the ribbon on the 40-acre learning center located along Route 9 opposite the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

School Superintendent Chris Clouet emceed the program that included remarks from PPOC’s Co-Founders Tracy Brown, Katie Scully and Sonia Crowley, who were at the forefront of making the parcel of mostly unused land into a unique, living laboratory for students of the village.

Guest speakers included Board of Education President Mimi Godwin, State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, State Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti and Teatown Lake Preserve Executive Director Kevin Carter, as well as student representatives senior Javiera Morales, eighth-grader Max Cover and freshmen Jayne Knight, who shared their visions for the habitat/classroom.

Thanks to contributions from partners – the Tarrytown Schools Board of Education, Teatown Lake Preserve and Scenic Hudson, as well as private funding from the Kathryn Davis Family, Alida Livingston Davis and IBM, PPOC boasts a new trail system accessing points of interest, wooded areas, the ruins of the brick factory, a pond, fresh- and salt-water wetlands and views of the Hudson River.

Supporting groups include Trailblazers, Pioneers and the Friends of PPOC Board.

Those interested in supporting Peabody Preserve may log on for more information at PPOC.outdoors@gmail.com

Photo: Peabody Preserve Outdoor Classroom via Facebook