Common Ground – High School, Urban Farm, and Environmental Education Center

Loading...

We Are More Powerful Together

Interested in becoming a student? Learn more about open houses, our lottery, and what it's like to be part of the Common Ground family.

Learn More

Join the Lottery
Visit Us!

Learn about programs for children, families, and adults.
See Our Impact
Greater than 90% graduation and college acceptance rates

15,000 community program participants

10,000 pounds of healthy, local produce
Common Ground is a Safe Space.

We stand with Immigrants & Refugees

We stand with the LGBTQ Community

Common Ground Home cgsandbox-admin 2022-12-23T16:38:02-05:00

Future High School Students & Families

Fill out an interest form. Watch a video. Come to an open house. The 23-24 lottery application is now open!

Become A Student

Current High School Students & Families

Visit our high school home page for our latest newsletter, school calendar & more.

High School Home Page

Programs for children and families

This fall, join us for after school programs, school vacation days, birthday parties, weekend programs, and more!

Campus is open every Saturday from 10 AM – 2 PM for you to enjoy!

The gardens and animal yards are open for you to visit and you can explore campus, go for a hike, make a mud pie, build a fort, and enjoy nature.

The Latest from Instagram

commongroundct

common ground is a high school,
urban farm and environmental
education center in a forest,
in the city. new haven, ct.

It's time for Friday 🐐 Fauna & Flora 🍂 with

It's time for Friday 🐐 Fauna & Flora 🍂 with Aurora! Featuring special guest contributors Lauren (Grant Writer), Audrey (Director of Development & Communications), Diane (Farm Manager), and our NatureYear students & teachers (follow them @commongroundnatureyear)! 🎉 Message us YOUR photos 📷 to be featured next week! 💚

This week, our NatureYear students & teachers gathered leaves to use as mulch on the farm on Monday. Speaking of leaves, Lauren spotted a translucent beech leaf 🍂 - how lovely! And Farmer Diane spotted environmental educators admiring the green leaves of bok choi, chard and kale growing in our hoophouse! 💚

Audrey saw some beautiful fungi 🍄 growing on an old log, and so did Lauren! 🎉Aurora & Lauren saw a stream near the Old Oak Trail that was very full after the heavy rain 🌧. Our NatureYear students explored streams this week, and also played in the mud kitchen! Plus they helped care for the animals and caught a great portrait of one of our goats smiling! 🐐😊

You'll be smiling too if you visit CG tomorrow 10am-2pm. 😊 The animals will be out in their yards (but the yards will not be open for visitors to enter), and you can observe fauna, flora & fungi, explore streams & hike independently! 💚

#fauna #flora #friday #natureyear #beechleaf #leaves #urbanfarming #fungi #stream #goats #explore #hike #nature #naturephotography

It's time for Friday 🐿 Fauna & Flora 🪵 with

It's time for Friday 🐿 Fauna & Flora 🪵 with Aurora! Featuring special guest contributors Lauren (Grant Writer, @le_ruots ), and our NatureYear students & teachers (follow them @commongroundnatureyear)! 🎉 Message us YOUR photos 📷 to be featured next week! 💚

This week, Aurora spotted raindrops 🌧 on a dried stalk of mugwort. She also saw some blue sky between the bare branches and rain showers, and a decomposing log 🪵 turned almost as blue as the sky by green elfcup fungus! 💙 And, she saw the husks left behind by a squirrel's (or chipmunk's?) 🐿 snack - do you know what seed it was eating?

Lauren saw a raindrop 💧 too on a tree! She took shelter from the rain and saw some happy indoor plants 🌿 in the Springside building. She also saw a twisted needle white pine 🌲 near the Hilltop building - their male cones are yellow and their female cones are red, though none were to be found on this tree.

Our NatureYear students found joy in the rain 💚 - and so much more, including patterns in nature on rocks 🪨 and in moss, and the bone 🦴 of an animal. Cjet (@natureofcjet) thinks it may be a raccoon hip!

Find your own fauna 🐿, flora 🌲, fungi 🍄 & FUN on CG's campus tomorrow 10am-2pm. 🎉 The animal yards are closed and staff aren't available, but you can explore & hike independently! 💚

#fauna #flora #friday #natureyear #bluesky #fungi #squirrel #chipmunk #snack #raindrops #hike #getoutside #fun #familyfun #naturephotography #photography #commongroundct

Last Saturday, about 200 people showed up for our

Last Saturday, about 200 people showed up for our Nature Playdate 🎉 - even though it was one of the coldest 🥶 days of the winter so far! Thank you to everyone who came to help with animal chores, walk the goats and play in the sandpit. 💚

This Saturday we aren't having a Nature Playdate and the Animal Yards will be closed - but you're still invited to come to campus 10am-2pm to explore independently. And on Saturday 1/28/23 10am-12pm is our Felting Workshop - register at bit.ly/feltingatcg, space is limited.

📷 Photos by Keilly Solano & Cjet Raymond, environmental educators extraordinaire!

#natureplaydate #community #chickens #goats #explore #commongroundct

It's time for Friday 🪱 Fauna & Flora 🌲 with

It's time for Friday 🪱 Fauna & Flora 🌲 with Aurora! Featuring special guest contributors our NatureYear students & teachers! 🎉 Check our CG's Fauna & Flora for yourself at our Nature Playdate tomorrow (Saturday 1/14/23) 10am-1pm - and be sure to message us YOUR photos 📷 to be featured next week! 💚

Our NatureYear students find and learn about so many fantastic fauna and flora on our campus! This week, the rain brought out a very large earthworm 🪱 - wow! And, NatureYear students harvested dogbane stems and used them to make their own rope 🪢- something indigenous peoples in North America have been doing for thousands of years! Heads up, dogbane is poisonous to dogs, humans and other animals if eaten.

NatureYear students also found (and climbed) a large pine tree 🌲 this week, and spent some quality time with our chickens 🐔! You too can explore CG and connect with CG's chickens 🐔 at tomorrow's Nature Playdate 10am-1pm! 🎉 Plus you can walk the goats 🐐, play in the mud kitchen, take a self guided hike and MORE! Free & no RSVP needed. Hope to see you there! 💚

#fauna #flora #friday #natureyear #natureplaydate #rain #earthworm #dogbane #pinetree #chickens #goats #mudkitchen #hike #free #familyfun #naturephotography #photography #commongroundct

📽 Check out this POWERFUL new video about Commo

📽 Check out this POWERFUL new video about Common Ground High School, and what makes this such a truly special place for students to learn & lead! 💚 Are you or a young person you know blazing a path to college success, a meaningful career, powerful leadership, and a healthy, happy, sustainable life? Join CGHS' class of 2027 - applications are NOW OPEN, until February 28, 2023 at 5pm! 🎉 For more information, attend our next Open House for prospective students and their families THIS SATURDAY, January 14, 2023, 10am-12pm or visit the link in our bio!

📽 Thank you to filmmaker Jake Wieners and the Connecticut Charter School Association (@ctcharterassoc) for helping us to create this wonderful video! 💚

#highschool #studentleadership #environment #community #outdoorlearning #charterschool #publicschool #openhouse #applytoday #commongroundct

💚 We're BEYOND proud to share that CG's VERY OW

💚 We're BEYOND proud to share that CG's VERY OWN Crystal Fernández was selected as a member of the second cohort of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven (@cfgnhv)'s Nonprofit Management Program for Emerging Leaders of Color! 👏 Crystal is a CG alum, a parent of a current CG student, the Director of our Green Jobs Corps program, co-founder of Friends of Kimberly Park, and so much more - she does it all! 🏅 We're so inspired by Crystal's leadership and all she brings to our community! 💚 Read more about this exciting program, which is part of The Foundation's Stepping Forward commitment, and about Crystal and her cohort at the link in our bio!🎉

📷 Photo by Diane Litwin.

#leadership #community #inspired #commongroundct

🎉 It's time for Friday 🐑 Fauna & Flora 🍂

🎉 It's time for Friday 🐑 Fauna & Flora 🍂 with @auroracoon! Featuring special guest contributors from the CG staff: @dibblin_diane & @schandrabigail (Farm Team), our @commongroundnatureyear teachers, and @le_ruots (Grant Writer). Message us YOUR photos 📷 from CG to be featured next week!

🎉 Farmer Diane spotted Farmer Deb's youngest helping with the harvest - the cutest farm assistant we've ever seen 😍, who just turned 1 year old! 🎂 Farmer Diane also saw CG student Ash pulling out the last of the collard greens. 💚

🎉 Before the holidays, when it was colder, Schandra saw some gorgeous ice near the Springside spring. We had to share her artistic photo, even though the ice has melted now. 💧 This week, Aurora saw the stream near the Old Oak trail full of melted ice, rain and oak leaves. 🍂 She also saw CG sheep Argyle 🐑 running over to say hi.

🎉 Our NatureYear teachers & students found all kinds of fungi 🍄 thanks to the rain this week. They also saw fog 🌫 lifting from the summit of West Rock - beautiful! Last but not least, Lauren found a gorgeous piece of quartz 💎 alongside the Old Oak trail. Come on over to check out CG's fauna & flora for yourself - campus is open every Saturday 10am-2pm! In winter, the Animal Yards are closed and staff aren't available - but you can still explore campus independently! Maybe you'll even find some fungi or quartz! 💚

#fauna #flora #friday #urbanfarming #cute #ice #stream #sheep #fungi #fog #westrock #quartz #nature #naturephotography #commongroundct

Load More... Follow on Instagram

Upcoming events

Common Ground High School Open House

February 21 @ 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Common Ground High School Open House

February 25 @ 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

See Full Calendar »

Recent Blog Posts

DRAFT: Common Ground Board of Directors Meeting Minutes: January 30, 2023

PLEASE NOTE: In order to comply with adjusted CT Open Meeting laws, this Zoom meeting will be recorded and posted on the Common Ground website New Haven Ecology Project January 30th, 2023 Zoom Recording

Common Ground Board Meeting Agenda for Jan. 20, 2023

PLEASE NOTE: In order to comply with adjusted CT Open Meeting laws, this Zoom meeting will be recorded and posted on the Common Ground website New Haven Ecology Project January 30th, 2023 Join

Common Ground Is Seeking A Full-Time Environmental Science Teacher

Common Ground Is Seeking A Full-Time Environmental Science Teacher About Common Ground High School Common Ground High School is the nation’s longest-running environmental charter high school, founded in 1997. Our 230 students form an inclusive,