Press Kit

Press & Media Inquiries

If you’re a member of the media working on a story or you’re interested in having someone from Nature In The Classroom speak at your event, we’d love to help out – Ernesto Rodriguez Cell: 310.510.0541 Email: ernie@natureintheclassroom.org

About Nature In The Classroom

Nature In The Classroom is a science-based nonprofit formed by retired educators and naturalists to help boost academic achievement and social-emotional learning by greening 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 a 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, as well as in the Poudre and Loveland Districts in Colorado.

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 Whitepaper

Ernesto Rodriguez, MS, PPS • Founder & Executive Director
Retired educator and school psychologist. Ernesto provided psychological services for the US State Department Schools in Colombia and Saudi Arabia. He founded Ernesto Rodriguez Photography in 1988, specializing in both 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 natural landscapes to the bedside of hospital patients. Sereneview® curtains are installed in over 3,000 hospitals nationwide, in 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.

Right click on the 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, accompanied by educational programs. He serves as an advisor to the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Organization of American States, and sits on the boards of several nonprofit environmental organizations. Right-click on the image to download.

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Videos

Telemundo52 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 the video to play the segment.

CBS News The Uplift, features Nature In The Classroom. They capture 5th graders at Taft Elementary in Santa Ana, CA, seeing their tree ceiling for the first time. The image links to CBSNews.com