Welcome to the Outdoor Classroom!
The Lake Area Outdoor Classroom provides an engaging and interactive learning experience in native Iowa habitats for area students and surrounding communities.
The Lake Area Outdoor Classroom is a 2.5-acre outdoor learning center adjacent to Clear Creek Elementary School in beautiful Clear Lake, Iowa. It is designed to be used by people of all ages to appreciate nature. This site provides pathways for a leisurely walk through tall grass prairie, woodland, and wetlands. Welcome to the wonders of our natural environment.
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The Lake Area Outdoor Classroom is renowned as the first breeder site for the DNR and a school district in Iowa since 1883. In 1994, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources began an effort to restore Trumpeter Swans to Iowa. A breeding pair of trumpeters was placed on site. These trumpeters were donated by trumpeter swan partner Gary Barrett of Armstrong, Iowa. The swans laid three eggs, one of which hatched. Clear Creek Elementary School was built in 1998.
The fenced-in pond in the Lake Area Outdoor Classroom is a temporary transitional site for temporarily holding swans. The swans are moved from site to site to release them into the wild. Over 150 different trumpeter swans have been on this site. Many of these swans come from our numerous nationwide partners from over 25 states including Alaska and dozens of zoos throughout the nation. The Lake Area Outdoor Classroom is a crucial part of the DNR’s trumpeter swan restoration effort, particularly as a transition site. Students at Clear Creek Elementary, as well as the Clear Lake community, have been connected nationwide with the swan cooperators throughout the United States and Canada.
The Lake Area Outdoor Classroom features three main native Iowa habitats: the tall grass prairie, woodland, and wetland. The trumpeter swan, a native majestic bird, inhabits the pond, as do Canadian geese and other waterfowl. Several native tree species line the property. Native prairie grasses and forbs welcome summer visitors with a variety of colors. Students have tagged over 150 monarch butterflies since 2007. An asphalt path leads to the Boulder Classroom, where you can sit and observe nature. The trail leads to the pond, where you can watch the swans and other waterfowl from the Observation Deck (an Eagle Scout project). Another trail leads through the trees, and there is a footbridge. In the winter of 2016, the western upper prairie was replanted with native prairie grass and flowers by third graders with a Monarch Mania grant through Lime Creek Nature Center in Mason City.
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As a Friend of the Outdoor Classroom, you will have the opportunity to promote and support environmental education.
Levels of Membership
- $1 – Student
- $3 – Individual
- $5 – Family
- $10 – Patron
- $25 – Supporting
- $100 & Up – Sustaining
Send your tax-deductible contributions to:
Lake Area Outdoor Classroom
Clear Creek Elementary School
901 South 14th Street
Clear Lake, IA 50428
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