Mundo Verde is a bilingual, sustainability-focused public charter school located in the District of Columbia. The school’s curriculum is based in expeditionary learning, where students learn through the active exploration of the world around them. Awarded a shuttered 1920s-era school building and site by the District in 2013, Mundo Verde had a direct question for the design team: “How can this redevelopment and addition project teach our students to be global stewards?”

Mundo Verde is two buildings: the renewed and refined historic school and a new Pre-K annex. The surrounding landscape is integral to the buildings, blending the natural systems of the city with learning space.

The Mundo Verde campus is a framework for expeditions about environmental sustainability. The paths of these expeditions are quilted together to form the campus design. Students grow and harvest food for lunches in gardens onsite, learning healthy and seasonable eating habits. Indigenous plantings support migratory insects and birds. An underground cistern and constructed streambed illustrate the importance of water conservation. Building materials and systems are made accessible to the students’ explorative questioning. Their analytical skills are engaged through exposure to natural systems and monitoring and metering of building performance and resource use.

The expeditionary learning curriculum empowers Mundo Verde students as leaders in their own learning. The school’s buildings and landscapes are designed to be dynamic partners in the growth of children into life-long learners and stewards of the environment.