GreenPrint
A GreenPrint for becoming a Green, Healthy and Sustainable schoolWhat Is a Green School?
A Green School enhances student health and learning while conserving natural resources and empowering students to develop sustainable behaviors, enabling them to become the stewards of the future.
How do you become a Green School?
Becoming a green school is not a prescribed journey; it is a series of conscious actions that lead to more ecological and sustainable practices. By using this “GreenPrint™” as a road map, leaders, teachers and students, can begin to implement core practices immediately. Through long-term commitment to these core practices, schools and school districts work toward implementation of all benchmarks at the highest level.
Core Practices
Core Practice 1: Curriculum that Advances Environmental Literacy and Sustainability
- Environmental literacy & education for sustainability, as defined by local, state, & national standards, is integrated in all grades;
- All teachers use inquiry, problem, and project-based pedagogy to facilitate learning about global systems and relationships;
- Outdoor experiences and fieldwork support learning about complex systems, connecting humans with other humans and all aspects of the natural world;
- Content areas are integrated by using environmental and sustainability topics as the common theme; and
- Collaboration with research-based curriculum and assessment models.
Core Practice 2: Stewardship and Service Learning
- Real world service learning projects explore solutions to local, regional, global problems and issues and teach 21century skills;
- Stewardship projects allow the student to take responsibility for their own school grounds;
- Place-based projects and practices that include, but are not limited to, school farms, forests, and gardens;
- All students are given the opportunity to participate in land restoration projects, such as native eco-system or brown fields remediation; and
- Teacher and leaders provide opportunities for students to make local and global connections.
Core Practice 3: Sustainable Facilities Design and Management
- Green facilities design and construction retrofit for existing buildings as defined by state, regional or national certification programs;
- Management practices, operations, and maintenance that reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, improve indoor air quality and lighting, decrease waste stream and improve water conservation;
- Zero-waste or reduced-waste cafeterias;
- Use of non-toxic and eco-friendly supplies and materials; and
- Facility managers and teacher work together to use buildings, management practices, materials and supplies purchasing to teach about sustainability.
Core Practice 4: Health and Well Being
- Healthy eating programs that utilize locally sourced and whole foods;
- Curriculum and support for physical fitness and healthy lifestyle choices;
- Fitness and recreation programs that include lifetime outdoor activities such as walking, hiking, biking, skiing, and camping;
- Healthy air quality practices and lighting that reduce illness and absenteeism; and
- Healthy and thoughtful relationships with others that support character development.
Core Practice 5: Strong Partnerships and Networks
- Long-term partnerships that support systemic change and ecological balance within the school and community;
- Strong alliances among groups of diverse cultural heritage to promote the greening of schools in all communities;
- Participation in the development of state and national green school networks;
- Participation in research and evaluation of student learning and best green school practices; and
- Collaboration with research-based curriculum and assessment models.
Our Mission
Our Vision
All schools and school districts are green, healthy, and sustainable.
Areas of Focus
- Education/Professional Development
- Resources and Information
- Networking/Collaboration
- Advocacy/Polic
- Research
Organizations Contributing to the GSNN GreenPrint Document
Alaska Green Schools
Alliance for Climate Education
American Federation of Teachers
Association of Independent Schools
Biological Sciences Curriculum StudyBluePlanet
Campaign for Environmental Literacy
Cannon Design
Center for Diversity and the Environment
Center for Ecoliteracy
Center for Environmental Education
Climate Counts
Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS)
Council for Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI )
Cloud Institute
Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education
Colorado Department of Energy
Colorado League of Charter Schools
Colorado Legacy FoundationConserve School
Denver Public Schools
E3 Washington
Earth Day Foundation
EarthEcho
Earth Partnerships for Schools
Environmental Charter Schools – California
Expeditionary Learning Schools
Facing the Future
Global Green
Green Charter Schools Network
Green Education Alliance
Green Education Foundation
Green My Parents
Green Schools Alliance
Green Schools Initiative (CA)
GREENGUARD Environmental Institute
HealthCorps
Healthy Schools Campaign
Green Schools Alliance
Green Schools Initiative (CA)
GREENGUARD Environmental Institute
HealthCorps
Healthy Schools Campaign
High Plains Environmental Center
Institute for the Built Environment, Colorado State University
Kansas Assoc. for Conservation & Environmental Education
Keep America Beautiful
Kokua Hawaii Foundation
Lunch Partners
MCW Energy
MGR Foundation – Green Community Schools
Maine Green Schools
Manitoba Education
Michigan Green Schools
Mid-America Regional Council
Minnesota Department of Education
National Association of Elementary School Principals
National Association of Independent Schools
National Association of School Administrators
National Audubon Society
National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities
National Education Association
National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEFUSA)
National School Board Association
National Wildlife Federation
No Child Left Inside
North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE)
Oklahoma Green Schools
Oregon Green Schools
Pine Jog Environmental Center
Place Based Education Evaluation Collaboration
Project Learning Tree – Green Schools!
SIG Energy Initiative
Sizemore Group
Sustenance International
Sustainable Schools Project
Trane
Triangle Energy Solutions
U.S. Department of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Education
U.S. Department of Energy
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
U.S. Forest Service
U.S. Green Building Council – Colorado Chapter
U.S. Green Building Council – Georgia Chapter
U.S. Green Building Council – Center for Green Schools
U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development
Washington Green Schools
Will Steger Foundation
Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction