Highlights from the 2014 Honorees

Connecticut

Greenwich Academy, Greenwich, Conn.

Greenwich Academy is a private day school, serving 800 girls from prekindergarten to 12th grade. Greenwich Academy is committed to practicing responsible environmental stewardship, and supports the principles of sustainability in the school’s curriculum to help students understand their relationship with the environment and prepare them to be informed stewards of sustainability. Greenwich Academy supports health and wellness of both students and staff, and exemplifies sustainability in the management of its buildings and resources use. Each division (lower, middle, upper) has a student organization committed to helping promote sustainable practices and encouraging members of the school community to join this effort. There is a schoolwide green team headed by the facilities director.

The school is privileged to have multiple conservation areas on campus, which provide ample teaching opportunities. Classes use natural and wetlands areas on the grounds in science classes and physical education. Many classrooms overlook wetlands, and students can observe wildlife and enjoy the moments of peaceful reflection that such an environment provides. These areas are protected according to wetland management regulations. The Greenwich Academy community is committed to preserving this area for the future. From collecting and studying water samples in the Long Island Sound, to a recent Upper School environmental biology expedition trip to the Amazon rain forest, students in all grades participate in field trips that deepen their connection and understanding of environmental issues.

Health and wellness are supported in the dining program, through hands-on curricular units focused on organic gardening, and in Greenwich Academy’s extensive athletic programs. Greenwich Academy focuses on healthy environmental quality through participation in Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools, Integrated Pest Management programs, and effective building management. Greenwich Academy has partnered with Sodexo to provide green cleaning services in all buildings. These practices provide a safer environment for everyone, and reduce the school’s impact on the environment. Students and staff are encouraged to use the on-campus fitness center and to spend ample time outdoors. The cafeteria offers a variety of healthy options, and all are encouraged to eat healthy.

Greenwich Academy students learn about energy and water use, using the building data. By implementing various strategies, Greenwich Academy has reduced its energy consumption 15 to 20 percent in the last 5 years, realizing approximately $200,000 in annual savings. With Sodexo as its facilities management partner, Greenwich Academy has implemented many improvements in its operating procedures that have resulted in reducing its overall environmental impact. From installing solar panels to encouraging reusable water bottles and promoting recycling, Greenwich Academy is committed to practicing responsible environmental stewardship and sustainability.

In August 2009, the newly renovated Middle School was awarded LEED Silver certification. Students learn about the green building features and the green roof on the upper school building. The school also actively monitors and controls building systems to optimize energy use. Use of daylight harvesting and LEDs helps to create a green learning environment, while green purchasing and waste-reduction strategies help reduce environmental impact. The building automation system manages energy efficiently during unoccupied hours and school breaks.

Students have built a nature trail through the wooded area adjacent to the school, and have started a small-scale composting program with the goal of capturing pre-consumer waste from the cafeteria’s kitchen. Students are given opportunities to get school credit for independent-study courses like gardening and composting, and also have opportunities for internships with green organizations in the area.

Interdistrict Discovery Magnet School, Bridgeport, Conn.

Interdistrict Discovery Magnet School (IDMS) serves 524 students from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade. One hundred percent of students receive free breakfast and lunch. Located in Bridgeport, one of the poorest urban areas in Connecticut, the school offers students a learning environment that is rich in outdoor and field experiences in a very urban community. IDMS’ curriculum has a strong environmental theme, supported by partnerships with local environmental educators, including the Discovery Museum, Fairchild-Wheeler School, the Connecticut Audubon Society, Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo, the Maritime Aquarium, and the Bridgeport Lighthouse after school program. Each experience allows students to apply what they learn in the school’s 90-acre wooded campus. Students learn many lessons through hands-on work, including in the sustainable garden, while raising Trout in the Classroom, and during the Discovery School BioBlitz. The school includes a culture of students teaching students, with older grades sharing information from their studies with their younger peers.

All students participate in programs with the Maritime Aquarium, learning about neighboring Long Island Sound and the importance of human conservation of these marine resources. To help the school’s urban students understand and interact with the school’s extraordinary open space, the third through eighth grades work with the Connecticut Audubon Society and their Science in Nature program, learning about biomes and data collecting skills, which they then use in the Discovery woodlands BioBlitz. Fifth and sixth grade classes take these skills further through work with the Beardsley Zoo, learning about local fauna and biodiversity. Sixth-graders also are raising trout eggs to be released in the local river in May. Through this program they also share what they have learned about ecosystems, habitats, and lifecycles with younger students.

All classes participate in daily science lessons, receiving from three to five hours of instruction per week across a broad curriculum. Accomplishments are celebrated in Family Science Nights and at the yearly science fair, and students publish articles in electronic journals. Many staff has been trained in Project Learning Tree, and they implement those lessons in the classroom. The school science specialist actively seeks professional development, partnerships, and opportunities to help to expand programming. Each teacher receives monthly formal science professional development. Lessons regularly are cross-disciplinary, with classes combining writing skills, science topics and research, and mathematical use of data. Staff are encouraged to attend science conferences, and are participating in the Connecticut Green LEAF program offerings.

Discovery Interdistrict Magnet School is a LEED Gold-certified facility, with an extraordinary building. From the rooftop solar photovoltaic system, to low-flow fixtures, students are able to use green technology while they learn about green. IDMS has a growing green focus, with an active green team comprised of educators, administrators, and facility staff. The student council supports and initiates green activities, including a recycling program. The Bridgeport School District supports this work, most notably by reinvigorating Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools program, and through a close relationship with facilities staff. Health and wellness are encouraged with daily activity, outdoor learning, lessons about nutrition and health, and participation in the sustainable garden. IDMS is working hard to be an exemplary green community, to share sustainability with students and their families, and to grow a greener culture in the community.