The College School was founded on the rich tenants of sustainability and environmentalism. The recent media, political, and education attention paid to “going green” is nothing new to us. Our school works to monitor our progress and growth in our implementation of best ecological and environmental practices throughout our community, curriculum, and grounds. Recycling of paper and commingled goods, a green parking lot with semi-permeable pavers, environmentally responsible construction and maintenance of our grounds, and continued education and integration into our curriculum are all part of The College School going green, or rather staying green.
We believe in Education for Sustainability
According to Environmental Educator David Orr, the “Sustainability Revolution” is, “a rethinking of our relationship to the natural world as members and citizens of an ecological community and as trustees of all that is past with all that is yet to come.” Education for sustainability inspires our students to think about the world, their relationship to it, and their ability to influence it in an entirely new way. Education for sustainability leads children to understand the interconnectedness of humans, the economy, and all of the Earth’s systems as well as the important role they play in creating a sustainable future.
Education for sustainability prepares our students to be informed and responsible stewards of our future world.
Along with our roots and history in this belief, our faculty has recently worked together to discuss how sustainability issues can and should be taught in the TCS curriculum and community. Whether in our greenhouse and garden, our biological sciences curriculum, our wilderness adventure education trips, our recycling efforts, our green construction, or our school wide Leave No Trace Ethic, sustainability and green education lives throughout our school. As educators we are stewards of the next generation. At this point in history, we are also stewards of 21st century schools that must cultivate the best of human qualities in the most imaginative and productive learning communities so that we can invent a healthy, positive, regenerative future.