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FOBH GOES TO SCHOOL

Landscape Arch Classroom with Teacher Paula Tramontano
Discover Landscape Architecture Classroom Program
Photo Credit: Paula Tramontano

July 2025—Friends of Olmsted-Beil House (FOBH) has been introducing Staten Island students in grades 3 to 5 to the field of landscape architecture with its innovative Discover Landscape Architecture classroom program. Developed by FOBH Treasurer and retired educator Paula Tramontano, the program has reached approximately 1,400 students since its inception in the 2022-2023 school year.

The 1.5-hour in-classroom program, which Paula presents, starts with a slide show of 19th-century Staten Island photos, paintings, maps, and other primary source documents. The students analyze the documents in the slides during a guided class discussion to build background knowledge about Frederick Law Olmsted’s life on his Staten Island farm. The second part of the slide show introduces students to his basic principles of public park design with photos—mostly from Olmsted–co-designed Central Park and Prospect Park—of winding pathways, forested areas, irregularly shaped lakes, and large lawn areas.

Landscape Architecture Classroom Program - Student Work Photo Credit-Paula Tramontano
Student Park Design
Photo Credit: Paula Tramontano

The program emphasizes the social impact of Olmsted’s designs, noting that prior to the creation of Central Park, the small parks around NYC at the time were behind locked gates only in the wealthy neighborhoods of the city. After Paula presents these lessons, the students demonstrate their understanding of Olmsted’s design principles by incorporating them into their own park plans. She reports that the students’ creativity has been off the charts!

Discover Landscape Architecture Classroom Program - Student Work
Student Park Design
Photo Credit: Paula Tramontano

For some of her presentations, Paula has been joined by FOBH Board member Felicity Beil, who shares interesting stories about having lived with her family in the farmhouse where Frederick Law Olmsted lived.

Landscape Architecture Classroom Program_#2 Credit-Paula Tramontano
Felicity Beil assisting students
Photo Credit: Paula Tramontano

The Discover Landscape Architecture program has been made possible through the support of Phillips 66. FOBH plans to continue offering the program in schools and perhaps eventually in local public libraries. It has been profiled in the Olmsted Network’s newsletter.

For further information about the FOBH Discover Landscape Architecture program, please contact Paula at ptramontano@olmstedbeilhouse.org.