Bannockburn Elementary PTA

Our Values

• Be responsible stewards and ensure ecologically healthy wooded school grounds are available for future generations.
• Be a good neighbor; remove Non-Native Invasive (NNI) woody plants from the grounds and keep them from further seeding the wider community.
• School grounds that enable and inspire student environmental learning opportunities.
• Demonstrate to BES teachers and staff that our community values the school grounds.
• Anyone from our community can participate, no experience required . Note: due to safety procedures required when removing invasive plants, minors can only participate during specific workdays scoped for their involvement. To get added to the notification list for stewardship group activities, send an e-mail to David Hecht (dwhecht@gmail.com) requesting addition.

Current State of BES Woodlands

Sept 2025 Update: Nature Forward representatives were hosted at BES the week before school started to run teacher professional development workshops geared towards outdoor learning! This win has been made possible by 3 years of woodland stewardship on the grounds, combined with Katy Levine’s efforts to help the administration find ways to increase outdoor hands-on environmental learning opportunities. The teachers walked the nature trail that has been built on the side of the soccer field, looking for ways to incorporate the outdoors into their curriculum, or to just use as a short wellness break for the kids. This is the impact we have been working towards, and we appreciate all who have contributed!

Additionally, we have a new Mural being painted on what was once a well-worn shipping container in the back of the school. The most exciting part is that all of the native species depicted on the mural can be found on the grounds at Bannockburn ES. We truly have a high quality natural area on the grounds and we appreciate everyone’s contributions to steward it for future generations.

March 2025 Update: This has been our first year where the Bannockburn Civic Association has become the new home for our Bannockburn neighborhood woodland stewardship activities. The arrangement worked without issue this year, and as in prior years, the woodlands at the elementary school have been the main focus of the group.

We are within one or two workdays of accomplishing our milestone of removal all mature non-native invasive climbing vines! Our native tree canopy will breath a long sigh of relief. We are also making great strides in creating an accessible nature trail environment, adjacent to the soccer field. Our PTA Green School Lead is also making progress in engaging with BES teachers, to create new opportunities for student engagement with the increasingly native, stable and accessible natural habitat on the school grounds. It is an exciting time, where our last 3 years of work is starting to bring results within our community.

June 2024 Update: After 2 years of stewardship activities, the Woodland Stewards group is closing in on a major milestone; The removal of all mature non-native invasive climbing vines! Hundreds have been removed to date. This accomplishment is a major step in preserving the “quality and diverse” (as described by the MD DNR Forest Service) native tree seed bank that exists in the natural areas around our school. Additionally, we have removed hundreds of mature non-native invasive shrubs that were crowding out our native and ecologically contributing shrubs. We have also protected the growth of 30+ desirable native tree saplings, which otherwise would have been killed by weedwacking, or deer browse.

As of Feb 2022: As with many of the fragmented urban woodlands of the DC metro area, the ecological value of our school grounds is diminishing. Biodiversity is almost certainly declining, as significant and increasing NNI (learn more…) plant populations kill natives (trees, shrubs and herbaceous), change the wooded ecology, and establish monocultures.  These NNIs have established an extensive seed factory, which are actively being spread by birds, wind, water, and other wildlife throughout our wider community.  To add to the stresses on these ecosystems, the overabundance of deer make it near impossible for young native woody plants to get established and provide the needed next generation of plants. Holes in the tree canopy become permanent and are unable to be filled through the normal regenerative woodland processes.

Without our intervention, the trees in the wooded edge along Bannockburn Dr would most likely all have died from the effects of the invasive plants; with minimal-to-no opportunity for natural succession.  The rest of the wooded grounds surrounding BES face a similar threat (albeit slower); with possibility for more rapid change when large trees die.  The wooded edges are thick with invasive plants and make the woods mostly inaccessible by students, staff and the community.

Our Accomplishments (Changes you see in the Woodlands)

Invasive Plant Reduction

The following non-native invasive plants have been removed from the grounds at BES. These plants do not contribute to the ecological fabric of our local ecosystem, all while taking limited nutrient, water, light and space resources from our native plants that do. Due to the lack of natural co-evolved controls (herbivores, parasites and pathogens), non-native invasive plants spread unchecked and do not co-exist in a balanced ecosystem. There existence here moves our local ecological systems towards unknown states of chaos. Said another way, “they are likely to cause economic or environmental harm, or harm to human, animal or plant health”.

Hundreds of mature Bush Honeysuckle, Burning Bush, Multiflora Rose, and other NNI shrubs have been removed.

Hundreds of mature Porcelain Berry, Oriental Bittersweet, Japanese Honeysuckle, English Ivy and Wintercreeper NNI vines have been removed.

A mature Tree of Heaven and Persian Silk Tree have been removed. Dozens of Norway Maples trees have been removed before they could dominate and overtake the full forest canopy into a monoculture. Approx. 5 White Mulberry trees have been identified for removal.

Native Plant Promotion

We have protected multiple Dogwood tree saplings near the front of the school.

We have protected dozens of oak and hickory tree species, with cages and tree tubes. These species are highly desirable for the stability and ecological services they provide. Unfortunately without protection, these species are currently unable to regenerate due to the overabundance of deer that eat their slow growing seedlings. We have also protected many desirable seedlings along the forest edge, to make sure that it is clear to landscapers to not mow/weed-whack further into the woods; which is a natural tendency after we remove large invasive plants from the woodland edge.

Woodland Stewardship Workday Record (more…)

2025

March 23rd – Stewards Group

March 8th – Stewards Group

Feb. 9th – Stewards Group

Jan. 19th – Stewards Group

Jan. 5th – Stewards Group

2024 (10 total)

Dec. 1st – Stewards Group

Nov. 17th – Stewards Group

Nov. 3rd – Stewards Group

Aug 3rd – Stewards Group

May 5th – Planting and Trail Clearing Day. – Stewards Group and Families.

April 1st – Stewards Group

March 10th – Stewards Group

Feb. 24th – Stewards Group

Jan. 28th – Stewards Group

Jan. 21st – Stewards Group

2023 (8 total)

Dec. 17th – Full Community Workday

Nov. 12th – Stewards Group

Oct. 29th – Stewards Group

Sept. 17th – Stewards Group

June 24th – Stewards Group

March 11th – Full Community Workday

Feb. 18th – Stewards Group

Jan. 22nd – Stewards Group

2022 (6 total)

Dec. 17th – Stewards Group

Nov. 26th – Stewards Group

Oct. 23rd – Stewards Group

Oct. 9th – Stewards Group

June 26th – Full Community Workday

March 5th – Full Community Workday

Our Plan

To stabilize the BES grounds, we will take action through a sustained combination of the following:

• Recurring and sustained BES PTA sponsored workday events to stabilize of woodlands through removal of NNIs from the entire grounds.  Follow Montgomery Co. Park NNI removal strategies that utilize volunteer effort.
  • Partner with local organizations who help facilitate this work (e.g. Little Falls Watershed Alliance, Bannockburn Civic Association)
  • Use workday events as opportunities to share with our community the damage NNIs are doing and how we can stop it. NNIs are vulnerable and we have advantages to exploit. They are successful in our community, due to our inaction.
  • Support next generation native tree and shrub growth
• On-going PTA collaboration with school administration
  • Provide training and support for school maintenance personnel
  • Align PTA workday event tasking
    • Enable student learning opportunities
  • • Assist school maintenance personnel