2020 was quite a year for Shamrock. First, of course, came the pandemic. Then staff and students were moved (virtually at first) to Lincoln Heights, while bulldozers descended on our school. A brand-new Shamrock should be ready to welcome students in the fall of 2022.

It’s hard to say good-by to a beloved building, a beautifully designed structure full of happy memories. It’s even harder to think about what has happened to all the creatures who made Shamrock home through the years: the moths and butterflies who sipped our nectar and laid their eggs on our host plants; the caterpillars who ate our leaves and fastened their chrysalises to our walls; the swifts who rested in our decommissioned boiler chimney on their spring and fall migrations; the hawk who loved to perch at the top of one of our old sweetgum trees; the hummingbirds who knew we’d put feeders out for them every year.

Life does go on. Friends and neighbors helped us salvage plants and materials. Some things have been moved to the Midwood Park garden; some are in the community-school garden at Winterfield Elementary; some will be part of the beautiful new garden and playspace at OurBridge for Kids, just up the road at Aldersgate.

Last spring and summer, as the pandemic raged, many Shamrock families raised caterpillars at home. If you’d like to try raising some this year, we have links to information and instructions on our Butterflies and Luna Moths pages.

A year or so from now, if building stays on schedule, we’ll start designing our new gardens.