The Artistry of Getting Parents More Involved

By Marianne D. Hurst

From the corner of 84th Drive in the Briarwood section of New York City, Karen Phillips can see the school garden. It makes her smile. But the garden is more than just a beautiful combination of trees, shrubs, and flowers—it also contains a 20-foot mural designed from historic photographs of the neighborhood.

As part of a parent-involvement program last year at the 1,350-student Public School 117 in the borough of Queens, 10 parents cleaned up a garbage-strewn section of the playground and planted the area while their children learned about square footage, plant species, and neighborhood history. After several trips to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, where students and parents attended a series of workshops, the garden was slowly transformed to include the mural.

Ms. Phillips, who is the coordinator of PS 117's Family Learning Project, says the garden will play a continuing role in this year's program, named "Garden is Art." Students and parents will visit the Brooklyn Museum's mosaic collection, the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, and the Chinese scholars' garden in the Metropolitan Museum. They plan to turn a shady portion of their 2,000-square-foot plot...