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Hi! I wish I had seen this earlier! I'm a little late to this thread, but I would like to share a few stream of consciousness resources that you all might find interesting.
I run a school garden in Dallas and we can grow through the winter. If we get down into the teens during a cold snap, I will cover crops, but for the most part the kids can see something growing while school is in session. I can't speak with authority on how you would garden in colder climates, but here's a video that I thought was interesting. Perhaps this type of tunnel will help you extend your growing season. In Dallas, we start with seedlings -- my students plant broccoli, cabbage, kale, chard, lettuce, brussels sprouts, or whatever else Lowe's and Home Depot have available during the fall in the affordable 6-packs. I would love to purchase 4' pots but they're just too expensive. I also haven't figured how to start my own seedlings without sacrificing my summer, so for us the 6-packs have worked beautifully for 10 years. We can also direct sow seeds in the fall that grow throughout the winter. We have grow radish, lettuce, and cilantro from seed directly sown in the garden, but there are other schools in town that seed other things, too.
If you're just starting your school garden, reach out to your local Master Gardener program or Agricultural Extension Agent to see if there is someone that would meet with you to discuss your climate, growing season, and the plants that grow best for you. You might even have a school garden community in your area and not know it! There are loads of online resources that outline the do's and dont's of starting a garden but for me the cardinal rule is don't try to do it all yourself. Build community from the first day or you will burn out!
Join The Kids Garden Community. The online forum provides a wealth of resources including discussion boards, funding opportunities, a resource library, and much more. Membership in the community is FREE!
The National Farm To School Network provides an searchable Resources page and allows you to search by resource type, topic, or the setting that best suits your needs.
Slow Food USA has a page devoted to School Gardens.
Life Lab
Whole Kids Foundation provides a ton of information, and even offers grants at certain times of the year
Growing School Gardens and the School Garden Support Organization - this organization provides a variety of resources, and even runs a bi-annual conference that will be held this spring in San Diego, CA.
I took the online School Garden Coordinator Certificate Training class offered by Oregon State University and thought it was excellent. Even though I don't live in Oregon the course included lots of great information. I liked the short videos that modeled classroom management skills in a garden setting. The unit that covered food safety was very useful to me. The Oregon State Extension also has a great list of resources that covers a variety of topics, including a basic how-to guide for educators on how to start a learning garden.
The Texas Agrilife offers the Junior Master Gardener curriculum for students from prek to junior high.
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