Revitalizing the One Room Schoolhouse Grounds

The grounds surrounding the One Room Schoolhouse are coming to life thanks to a collaborative effort to establish native plants that were once part of a prairie landscape.

Over the past year, Facilities & Planning and the Office of Sustainability have worked together to transform the area surrounding the schoolhouse into a landscape that’s beautiful, resilient and reflective of the regional prairie ecology.

This initiative is part of a broader Campus Master Plan that reenvisions the function of the university’s landscape to move toward a sustainable system that conserves water, supports biodiversity and provides opportunities for hands-on learning.

The transformation began during a spring campus cleanup event in 2025, which brought together 80 faculty and staff members from departments across campus.

Lupine is growing on the grounds surrounding the One Room Schoolhouse.

Erin Endres, EWU’s climate resilience specialist, says those volunteers planted a total of 3,000 native plants – including species such as lupine and arrowleaf balsamroot – to beautify the existing landscape and establish a foundation to restore the prairie.

This fall, the site was intentionally mowed and prepared for the next phase of establishment, she says, marking another milestone in the project’s journey. Although the mowing may have resembled a reset, Endres says the work was a step forward because it created the conditions necessary for the prairie system to take root.

Following that preparation, EWU grounds experts used drill seeding techniques to plant native grasses –including mountain brome, Idaho fescue, bluebunch wheatgrass, slender wheatgrass and Sherman big bluegrass, Endres reports.

Several plant species have already sprouted across the site, emerging in ways that reflect a true prairie system. Endres says many of the flowering species that will define the landscape’s character are slower to reveal themselves, often requiring multiple seasons to develop fully. For instance, the arrowleaf balsamroot currently appears as a tiny leaf and takes 5-7 years to fully flower. What observers see today, she notes, is just the beginning of the story.

This arrowleaf balsamroot plant on the schoolhouse grounds will take 5-7 years to reach maturity and flower. — This arrowleaf balsamroot near the schoolhouse takes 5-7 years to mature and flower.

The long-term vision for the schoolhouse landscape is a mosaic that includes upland, moist and pollinator-supporting prairie habitats. These areas will be woven together with pathways designed to invite people into the landscape rather than separating them from it, Endres says.L

Over time, the university expects those grounds to shift from an area requiring intensive maintenance to one that the campus community can simply enjoy.

Endres reminds the community that prairies do not happen overnight, but instead unfold season by season. The work at the One Room Schoolhouse represents the early stages of a project that will continue to develop into one of the most ecologically diverse spaces on campus.

Project organizers expressed gratitude for the faculty and staff volunteers who helped launch the project and say they look forward to watching the landscape grow into something truly meaningful.