About Besant Hill School

The Besant Hill School main campus is nested within Happy Valley, a landscape of incredible beauty and diverse ecosystems. The landscape resilience enhancement concept plan integrates the intention to provide habitat for other species with the desire to create additional learning opportunities for students and model ways of living more sustainably. The components of the plan build upon the existing natural and constructed features of the site including an organic farm, vernal pool, wildlife corridor, oak woodland, creek and walking trails.

The proposed zones of landscape enhancement restore the riparian corridor of the creek, expand the wildlife corridor, restore oak woodlands and upland plantings and introduce pollinator corridors; creating a robust network of connected ecosystems across the campus while preserving the astounding views of the surrounding mountains that experientially connect the Happy Valley to the larger Ventura Watershed.

This integrated approach to landscape design provides long term water resilience by including rainwater collection from the roofs of main campus buildings and stormwater management practices across the entire site. A large stormwater retention basin is proposed to store water from seasonal rain events providing a source for summer irrigation, and potential groundwater recharge and instream flow enhancement. The combined impact of the proposed projects will increase water and food security, enhance habitat, build healthier soils, increase fire resiliency and create a beautiful campus environment that is rich with hands-on learning opportunities for students, staff and visitors.

The Happy Valley land already has a powerful impact on everyone fortunate enough to spend time on the site, the proposed landscape enhancements build on this latent potential by regenerating native eco-systems and connecting them to sustainable human practices. This design builds a physical framework that supports the school’s intention to educate students to become global citizens and foster their stewardship of our planet.