Issues > July/August 2006 (#115) > The Top 10 Green Schools in the U.S.: 2006

The Top 10 Green Schools in the U.S.: 2006

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7) 7th Place: Michael E. Capuano Early Childhood Center (public), Somerville, MA; Score: 53.5
Few schools have their own wind turbine; the Capuano Center not only has one, but also purchases solar and wind power to keep all systems going. Serving preschoolers and kindergartners, the center helps instill good eating habits from an early age by offering local foods and allowing kids to grow vegetables in the nearby community garden. Teachers tell their young wards about healthy foods and at lunchtime sit with the children, encouraging them to try vegetables and fruit, notes Susan Collins, principal. And this fall, students and their families will be brought to Somerville's Union Square marketplace to see locally grown fresh food, participate in various activities, and celebrate the harvest.

Pesticides, naturally, have been eliminated and the school is cleaned greenly. Water and air quality are monitored and buses and cars aren't allowed to idle. To help the kids learn from the building, teachers also point out environmental features, such as the skylights and motion detectors for lights in classrooms (the school has beautiful daylight, as visitors frequently tell Collins). "It's lovely place to come and work every day," says Collins.

8) 8th Place (tie): Clackamas High School (public), Clackamas, OR; Score: 50.3
LEED-Silver certified Clackamas High School takes the school-as-teaching-device to a new level: Biology teacher Andrew Gilford tasks students with monitoring the building's ongoing effects on the watershed, encouraging them to ask if it is as green as the administration claims. The verdict so far is yes, indeed. With solar panels for renewable power, pesticides eliminated indoors and out, and a procurement policy aimed at sourcing the least toxic materials, as well recycled and energy-efficient goods, the school lives up to its high green standards. Students help out by spending 15 weekends out of the year planting trees, removing invasive species and collecting garbage. Who knows? They may even start picking up their socks and towels at home.

9) 8th Place (tie): Washburn Elementary School (public), Washburn, WI; Score: 50.3
The second Wisconsin school to make the top 10 this year, Washburn is currently completing certification with the state's Green and Healthy Schools program. To help with certification, parents, community members and school staff have all joined in, forming a committee to lessen the school's environmental impact. "I'm very big on source reduction," says Lisa Fratt, mother of fourth-grader Ellie and seventh-grader Kayla, and the committee member in charge of the student recycling program. Now that Washburn recycles aluminum, glass, cardboard, electronics, ink cartridges, paper and plastic, Fratt's daughters "are much more vigorous recyclers at home." Fratt notes that the program has also brought "a much bigger emphasis on fresh foods and a variety of foods." Whereas Fratt used to make lunch for them every day, Ellie eats school lunch two to three times a week and Kayla every day.

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