Press & Media Inquiries
If you're a member of the media working on a story or you're interested in having someone form Nature In The Classroom speak at your event, we'd love to help out - Ernesto Rodriguez Cell: 310.510.0541 Email: [email protected]
About Nature In The Classroom
Nature In The Classroom is a science-based non-profit that was formed by retired educators and naturalist to help boost academic achievement and social emotional learning by greening up classrooms. Fifty years of science shows that when children view trees out windows or images of trees, it calms and helps them focus and engage. Children perform better academically, creatively, and socially when they have access to green schoolyards and views to greenery. Teachers and students however spend 85-90% of their day indoors, often without green views.
We green classrooms by installing ceiling murals of local tree canopies. When children sit in the classroom, they are literally sitting under a tree. The overall effect of the tree murals is that they calm students, boost creativity, and give teachers more time on task. Ceilings are currently installed in Los Angeles USD, Long Beach USD, Santa Ana USD, Corona-Norco USD, Palm Springs USD, Conejo Valley USD, and Scotts Valley USD in California and the Poudre and Loveland Districts in Colorado.
We green classrooms by installing ceiling murals of local tree canopies. When children sit in the classroom, they are literally sitting under a tree. The overall effect of the tree murals is that they calm students, boost creativity, and give teachers more time on task. Ceilings are currently installed in Los Angeles USD, Long Beach USD, Santa Ana USD, Corona-Norco USD, Palm Springs USD, Conejo Valley USD, and Scotts Valley USD in California and the Poudre and Loveland Districts in Colorado.
Supporting Research
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Use of Tree Canopy Images in School Classrooms to Promote
Mindfulness , Positive Behavior, and Enhance Learning Carlos L. de la Rosa PhD, Victoria Coyle, PhD, Ernesto Rodriguez, MS March 2022 White paper outlines the evolution of the idea to place tree canopies in classrooms and the supporting research. Download the White Paper |
Key Contacts
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Ernesto Rodriguez, MS, PPS • Founder & Executive Director
Retired educator and school psychologist. Ernesto provided psychological services for US State Department Schools in Colombia and Saudi Arabia. He founded Ernesto Rodriguez Photography in 1988, commercial and fine art photography. His work is in the Curator’s Collection at MoMA, New York and on exhibit in the Smithsonian. In 2002 Ernesto founded Sereneview®, to bring the science of viewing calming nature landscapes to the hospital patient bedside. Sereneview® curtains are installed in over 3,000 hospitals nationwide, Europe and Australia. He is the Founder and Executive Director of Nature In The Classroom®, a non-profit that applies nature art and science to create classroom environments that support teachers and students academically and emotionally. Click image to download. 
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Carlos de la Rosa, PhD • Assistant Director & Board Chair
Ecologist, author, photographer and conservation expert. Carlos has designed education centers and indoor / outdoor exhibits with accompanying educational programs. He is advisor to the US Agency for International Development, the Organization of American States, and sits on the boards of several nonprofit environmental organizations. Click image to download. 
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VideosTelemundo52 features Nature In The Classroom’s tree ceilings at Gage Middle School in their education segment Blackboard52. Students and a teacher are interviewed about how tree canopies in the classroom foster calm and creativity. Click on video to download.
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Teacher Classroom Tours
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Logan Earnest tours his 5th grade classroom at Taft Elementary. He discusses how the tree ceiling has transformed his classroom
Santa Ana, CA. Click on video to download. |
Debbie Lindsey, Assistant Principal at Cesar Chavez Academy discusses the calming benefits of their tree ceiling in their wellness room.
Corona, CA. Click on video to download. |
Leslie Snyder, 2023 Palm Springs Unified School District Teacher of the Year, tours her classroom at Nellie Coffman Middle School, giving student anecdotes. Cathedral City, CA.
Click in video to download. |
Gage Middle School tour of 6th grade classroom. Teacher describes how the tree has transformed the room for students. Huntington Park, CA
Click on video to download. |
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Podcasts
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Talking With Green Teachers
Aired Sept 30, 2022 Ernesto Rodriguez and Ian Shanahan discuss Attention Restoration Theory, supporting science and the benefits of bringing the outdoors into the classroom. |
National Association for Interpretation S&P Podcast – Powered by NAI
Aired Sept 30, 2021 Nature in the Classroom is an innovative program that brings some of the benefits of the outdoors inside—specifically on classroom ceilings. We talk with Ernesto Rodriguez about getting kids outdoors indoors. |
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Photo Sets
Click the buttons below to download each collection of jpeg images.
Maples
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Eucalyptus
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Tipu
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Press Releases
Classroom Tree Ceiling Murals Provide Stress Relief at Cesar Chavez Academy
April 28, 2022 Corona, CA
April 28, 2022 Corona, CA
Logos
The Nature In The Classroom logo is the most immediate representation of our non-profit organization. It can only be displayed in unaltered form and not combined with other graphics or in relation with other organizations. Click on logo to download.
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