Bay Farm School Nominated For Green Ribbon School Award

ALAMEDA, CA - State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson on Friday nominated three California school districts and two individual schools to compete in the U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools recognition program, which honors schools that conserve resources while promoting health and environmental literacy.

The nominees are the Bay Farm School of Alameda County, the private Bishop O’Dowd High School of Oakland, Los Angeles Unified School District, Manhattan Beach Unified School District, and San Francisco Unified School District.

The schools and districts were also named “Green Achievers,” the highest honor in the California Green Ribbon Schools recognition program, according to a statement from Torlakson’s office.

“I commend these schools and districts for reducing their environmental footprints and engaging students using sustainability and the environment as the context for learning,” Torlakson said. “Their efforts are helping to build healthier, more resilient communities and a more prosperous California.”

The East Bay schools were nominated for the following reasons:

• Bay Farm School, Alameda, Alameda County Bay Farm School has implemented an efficient three-stream waste diversion program that diverts 85 percent of solid waste from the landfill. Students are critical to these efforts, monitoring lunchtime sorting and conducting multiple waste audits to keep recyclables out of classroom and playground trash. Bay Farm’s Outdoor Learning Center (OLC) is managed by a full-time garden teacher. All students regularly learn outdoors in part by working in the OLC and eating the food they grow there. Read more about Bay Farm’s efforts on their Go Green Web page.
• Bishop O’Dowd High School, Oakland, Alameda County O’Dowd’s Center for Environmental Studies, completed in 2014, is a LEED Platinum certified building. The campus also supports a four-acre “Living Lab” that has undergone ecological restoration annually since 2000 and received Bay Friendly certification and Wildlife Habitat certification. The Living Lab features four different local ecosystems, beehives, chickens and rabbits, edibles, and water catchment systems. It is used for field research, experiential learning, and spiritual meditation. Green Gloves, a 2015 partnership with the ReThink Disposable project, replaced disposable plates and bowls in the cafeteria with reusable baskets, reducing solid waste by 3,376 pounds per year. O’Dowd was recognized by CAPSO as a CA-GRS Gold School in 2015 and a Silver School in 2014.

Green Ribbon Schools demonstrate exemplary achievement in what the Department of Education calls three “pillars:” Pillar I -- reduce environmental impact and costs; Pillar II -- improve the health and wellness of schools, students, and staff; Pillar III -- provide effective environmental education that teaches many disciplines and is especially good at effectively incorporating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education, civic skills, and green career pathways.

California is one of 25 states as well as the District of Columbia and the U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity that are expected to nominate schools and districts for federal recognition this year. The U.S. Department of Education will confirm state nominees on Earth Day, April 22, 2016.

--City News Service contributed to this story; Image via Bay Farm School