WARWICK — As part of the town’s efforts to reopen the former Warwick Community School as an independent elementary school, the Selectboard has given its seal of approval to an educational trail plan for the 25-acre grounds.
The Warwick Education Committee and Town Lands Trails Study Group developed the plan, which involves creating trails throughout the school property that will be marked with educational signs, as well as viewing platforms and benches.
Members of the Town Lands Trails Study Group said marked trails will bring walkers to unique places. The 25-acre grounds contain a cranberry bog, two registered vernal pools and a lily pond.
“We’ve been working together since 2020, considering how to develop a trail system on the 25 acres,” Town Lands Trails Study Group member Clare Green recently told the Selectboard when presenting the plans. “We have shared some bigger ideas for the land, but the focus tonight is our initial trails proposal.”
The Town Lands Trails Study Group is composed of six people who have been volunteering since February 2020 at the request of the Warwick Education Committee. Members say the trails program will allow for increased accessibility to town lands, environmental studies and place-based learning for students. The study group also notes the Warwick campus was certified by the National Wildlife Federation as an “Outdoor Classroom Habitat” in 2000.
According to a letter the Town Lands Trails Study Group submitted to the Selectboard, the land was originally donated for the purpose of education by resident Patricia Lincoln Johnson. Trails and roads have been established on the parcel in the past, and are being taken into consideration as the group develops trails to further enhance educational opportunities.
The proposed trails include a Cranberry Bog Loop Trail around the cranberry bog. A loop trail to Kettle Pond (the lily pond) will have a viewing platform at the pond’s edge and along the trail ridgeline. Proposed at the start of the Kettle Pond Loop Trail is a path leading to a “food forest” and “a quiet contemplative resting spot.” Additionally, an established Hillside Trail will lead through forested land to 71 Athol Road, where walkers can see the second vernal pool.
Selectboard member Brian Snell said he has walked most of the proposed trails, and he is enthusiastic about the proposal.
“All of this work on trails feeds into Warwick’s redesign of its school and schoolyard with a focus on environmental and place-based education,” Snell said. “The trails will be labeled, showing species and trees. There will be benches. Trails will be available this summer as part of our work with Antioch University and the summer program.”
The Warwick Education Committee and Town Lands Trails Study Group are coordinating with interns and staff members from Antioch University in Keene, N.H., to provide a Summer Recreation and Arts Program geared toward children in kindergarten through eighth grade. The focus will be place-based learning and the environment. The arts and sciences will be integrated, and the program is being funded by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and a town allotment.
Following the Selectboard’s endorsement, Green said the next step is to meet with the Conservation Commission to clarify the trail plan meets requirements for wetland zoning, followed by clearing to make the initial paths. Selectboard member Todd Dexter said the trail proposal will not only enhance the Warwick Community School property, but will serve the greater community.
“Our whole community will benefit from this initiative,” Dexter said.
Area residents who are interested in helping to further the trail plan, or who wish to attend the Antioch University summer program, may contact Selectboard member Brian Snell at school-redesign@town.warwick.ma.us.
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-930-4579.
Trails Letter by Zachary DeLuca on Scribd