The Classroom Cultivation program is based on a previous program, Orchids in Classrooms (OIC). For Orchids in Classrooms, scientists and researchers from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) partnered with the North American Orchid Conservation Center (NAOCC), Fraichild Tropical Botanical Gardens, and the Million Orchid Project to work with students and teachers to study and conserve native orchids. In the 2019-2020 school year, OIC was able to collaborate with students and teachers in 14 different classrooms around different regions (seven DC public schools, 5 MD classrooms and one science center, and one FL school) to study native orchids.

Thanks to funding from the Smithsonian's Together We Thrive Initiative, Classroom Cultivation built on OIC's success and re-launched this classroom-based science and research in 2024.