Community Update

OAK GROVE
MONTESSORI SCHOOL RECEIVES CONNECTICUT GREEN CIRCLE AWARD

In recognition for dedicated work and focus on environmental
issues, Oak Grove Montessori School has been honored with the Connecticut GreenCircle Award. The school has made
environmental conservation and prevention a part of its foundation and mission.
Bob Hannon, from the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
(DEEP), attended the school's end of the year celebration and presented the
prestigious award.

"Respecting the environment is deep in the heart of our
community, and is clearly expressed through our actions here at school. We are
thrilled to be receiving this honor. This award will be a tool that we can use
to help communicate to other groups that these issues need to simply be
imbedded into the fabric of our lives, and not be considered projects or
work," says Sue Angelides, Head of School at Oak Grove.

The students are taught at an early age that our daily
activities can have a negative or positive impact on our environment. The
school encourages trash-less lunches, uses cloth napkins and towels, supports
the local co-op, composts, grows vegetables, is launching a year round
greenhouse, is pesticide free, uses green cleaning products, maintains walking
trails through the wetland area on their property. The children study  in-depth the environment, the seasons, the
natural world, and the impact that we have on it.

The students spend time throughout the school year collecting
clothes and food for those in need, collecting food and supplies for animal
shelters, supporting areas in the country that have been hit hard by natural
disasters. 

This small school community has been able to show how easy
it is to have a huge impact on our environment. These students know that it is
every persons responsibility to care for our larger community.