Embracing The Environment

We all live in a watershed. A watershed is all of the land that drains to the same location or body of water. Anything you do on the land where you live affects everyone else who lives in your watershed. That includes people, animals, insects, and plants. Our local watershed at Hillendale Elementary School is Craigs Mill Run.

The stormwater runoff from our playgrounds, fields, parking areas, and school roof eventually drains into Craigs Mill Run. Craigs Mill Run is a small stream located on the southeast border of the Hillendale property. A tributary, rain water runoff from the Hillendale property drains into Craigs Mill Run, which flows to the Brandywine Creek, then to the Christina River, Delaware River, Delaware Bay and finally into the Atlantic Ocean.

Limiting the amount of stormwater runoff is one way to maintain a healthy watershed. Hillendale has planted trees and shrubs, designed rain gardens, and constructed biobasins and detention basins all in an effort to control the amount of stormwater runoff leaving our property.

Stormwater runoff occurs when precipitation from rain or snowmelt flows over the land surface. The addition of roads, driveways, parking lots, rooftops, and other surfaces that prevent water from soaking into the ground greatly increases the runoff volume created during storms. Stormwater runoff causes flooding, erosion, water quality impairment, and the degradation of stream habitats—all of which negatively impact the environmental health of the waterways throughout Pennsylvania.

The surface water run­off from the Hillendale Elementary School during rain events prior to 2013 contributed to some of our neighboring properties experiencing flood conditions in extremely heavy rains. A large ravine also developed as a result, with silt washing out to create poor water quality in Craigs Mill Run. 
Hillendale's upgraded stormwater management system collects over 75 percent of the rainwater that falls on the Hillendale property. The new management system slows down the rainwater runoff, allowing water to naturally enter the groundwater, preventing erosion and resulting in cleaner water as the ground has a chance to filter and purify it.

Key elements of the Hillendale stormwater management system include the planting of over 600 trees, two rain gardens, four biodetention basins, a large extended detention dry basin, and a landscaped final outflow area. The four smaller biodetention basins are heavily planted with native grasses, plants, and shrubs. The biodetention basins are located centrally on the Hillendale property and are designed to collect rainwater runoff from the upper and lower parking areas, hardtop playground areas, and the roof of the school. Spillways divert water from one biodetention basin to the other creating a meandering stream effect. These biodetention ponds are designed to empty within 6 to 12 hours after a storm. There are also two rain gardens strategically located to collect water from the lower parking area.

When runoff reaches the end of the fourth biodetention basin, it is then directed through a cement head wall outflow allowing water to drain from the final detention basin to the larger extended detention basin at the lower end of the property. The water travels underground for over 100 yards through an 18" pipe.

A large extended detention dry basin is located at the lower end of the Hillendale property to collect the outflow from the four centrally located biodetention basins. This significantly larger extended detention dry basin can limit downstream erosion and control some pollutants such as suspended solids. Extended detention (ED) dry basins improve on the basic detention design by lengthening the storage time, for example, to 24 or 48 hours.

Runoff slowly drains from the large ED dry basin and is directed underground to the southeast corner of the Hillendale property. This is the end of the line for Hillendale's stormwater management system. Drainage water from the ED basin reaches the final outflow and is dispersed through a rocky substrate. The water travels down a long hill planted with a special seed mixture and willow shrubs. Upon completion of its journey down the hill, any remaining stormwater enters into the Craigs Mill Run stream.

The Hillendale Trail connects all the areas on our 20-acre property for exercise and environmental education. The trail allows our staff, students, families, and community to access these areas easily and safely.

Six interpretive signs are installed strategically along the Hillendale Trail to describe the key components of our environmental education program. The signs inform our community about our stormwater management system and how important it is for the health of our waterways. 

In addition to fostering a sense of environmental stewardship, the trail is available to our community, including the HES Running Club, for walking and jogging. 

Over 600 trees have been planted on the Hillendale property. Trees provide economic, environmental, and social benefits. In addition to managing stormwater runoff, they contribute greatly to our environment by providing oxygen, improving air quality, combating climate change, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife. 

We planted eight different species of trees to begin the formation of the Hillendale Woods. Basswoods, Dogwoods, Magnolias, Redbuds, Red Maples, Scarlet Oaks, Swamp White Oaks, and Tulip Poplars were planted and will grow to become the Hillendale Woods.

The Hillendale Meadow provides a habitat of native grasses and flowers to support our local pollinators. It has been estimated that animal pollinators are needed for the reproduction of 90% of flowering plants and over 50% of human food crops. Pollinators are declining globally in both abundance and diversity. Each of us depends on them in a practical way to provide us with the wide range of foods we eat. In addition, pollinators are part of the intricate web that supports the biological diversity in natural ecosystems that helps sustain our quality of life.

In addition to supporting native bees and honeybees, many of the native flowering plants used in the Hillendale Meadow also attract nectar-seeking butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds, and some are host plants for butterfly and moth caterpillars. Growing the right flowers, shrubs, and trees with overlapping bloom times will support pollinators from spring through fall. By adding native plants to our landscape that provide food and shelter for pollinators throughout their active seasons and by adopting pollinator-friendly landscape practices, we can make a difference to both the pollinators and the people who rely on them. 

A generous grant from Dupont Clear into the Future allowed us to create a path complete with interpretive signage through our Hillendale meadow. The interpretive signs detail the importance of pollinators, biodiversity, and highlight specific native plants.

Native plants are those that occur naturally in a region where they evolved. By using native plants, we create a habitat that nurtures and sustains the living landscape for animals.

Native plants do a better job of providing food and shelter for native wildlife than introduced plants. 

Because native plants are adapted to local environmental conditions, they also require far less of the most valuable resource, water. 

Native plants are the foundation of our natural ecosystems and protect biodiversity. Biodiversity, short for biological diversity, describes the variety of life found in an ecosystem.

Our native plants include Anise Hyssop, Appalachian Mountain Mint, Black-Eyed Susan, Blue False Indigo, Blueflag, Broomsedge Grass, Butterfly Weed, Canada Wildrye Grass, Cardinal Flower, Carolina Lupine, Claire Grace Beebalm, Common Milkweed, Cutleaf Coneflower, Emory’s Sedge, Fireworks Goldenrod, Foxglove Beardtongue, Gold Standard, Golden Alexanders, Indiangrass, Joe Pye Weed, Little Bluestem Grass, New York Ironweed, Nodding Onion, Obedient Plant, October Skies, Threadleaf Bluestar, Tufted Hairgrass, Poverty Rush, Prairie Coneflower, Purple Coneflower, Purpletop Grass, Rattlesnake Master, Smooth Oxeye, Snow Flurry, Solar Cascade Short Goldenrod, Soft Rush, Spiderwort, Spike Gayfeather, Spotted Beebalm, Sundial Lupine, Sundrops, Swamp Verbena, Virginia Wildrye Grass, and Wild Petunia.